Effects of Invasive Plants(Xanthium spinosum, Xanthium strumarium and Phragmites australis) on Rhizobacteria Density

This study investigated whether certain invasive plant species affect the densities of soil bacteria essential for plant growth in agricultural regions. In this study, the densities of nitrogen-fixing (NF), phosphate-solubilizing (PS), and sidero-phore-producing bacteria (SPB) were assessed in the rhizospheres of the invasive plants Xanthium spinosum, Xanthium strumarium, and Phragmites australis in wheat cultivation areas of Çorum, Turkey. The microbial densities in the rhizo-spheres of these invasive plants were then compared to those found in the rhizo-spheres of wheat. The research findings indicated that the rhizosphere microbial density of invasive plants varied according to plant type and localit, with these variations between the wheat rhizosphere soil and those of other plant types at the same location showing statistical significance(p≤0.05). However, when comparing the biochemical properties of invasive plants and wheat rhizosphere soil, no sta-tistically significant difference was observed. The results suggest that invasive plants such as X. spinosum, X. strumarium, and P. australis reduce the microbial density of NFB, PSB, and SPB in environments with similar soil properties. Nonetheless, further research is necessary to deepen the analysis of the relation-ship between plant species and soil structures to better understand the mechanisms behind the decline in bacterial density