Vermicompost Combined with Soil Conditioner Improves the Ecosystem Multifunctionality in Saline-Alkali Land
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
1. Introduction
Unfortunately, this section did not highlight the importance and necessity of coupling soil conditioner and vermicompost. This was only a general description of the hazards of soil salinization and some of the current research on vermicompost.
2. Materials and Methods
(1) The irrigation system and rainfall of drip irrigation were not introduced；
(2) how to determine the application ratio of the relevant soil conditioner?
3. Results
(1) All parameters should be analyzed comprehensively, not simply soil physical and chemical parameters.
(2) The relevant data of leaf enzyme activity should be re-examined
(3) Only correlation analysis and redundancy analysis were carried out, and a large number of microbial data could not be mined effectively
4. Discussion
The discussion part fails to show the innovation of the paper, and this paper failed to explain the effect of vermicompost coupling conditioner on soil salinization.
Minor editing of English language required
Author Response
Manuscript Number: water-2526241
Manuscript Title: Vermicompost Combined with Soil Conditioner Improves the Ecosystem
Multifunctionality in Saline-Alkali Land
Article Type: Original research paper
Point 1: Unfortunately, this section did not highlight the importance and necessity of coupling soil conditioner and Vermicompost. This was only a general description of the hazards of soil salinization and some of the current research on Vermicompost.
Response 1: Many thanks for the reviewer's suggestion and we agree with this comment. Because soil amendment has good physical properties and Vermicompost has excellent chemical properties, coupling soil amendment and Vermicompost may promote the improvement of saline alkali land.We have added relevant content to the manuscript.
Thank you again!
Point 2: The irrigation system and rainfall of drip irrigation were not introduced. Response 2: Thanks for your comments. Through the setting of the system, the irrigation volume of our irrigation system is 20m3/hm. The irrigation system is opened once a week, which can better meet the water demand of vegetation in the test site. In the original text, we added rainfall data at 427.5mm. Thank you again!
Point 3: How to determine the application ratio of the relevant soil conditioner? Response 3: Thanks for your comment. First of all, we confirmed according to the following documents that the amount of Vermicompost and solid waste fertilizer in the article is 20t·ha-1. Considering that the experimental site is moderate saline alkali land, the environment is poor, and the material cost of the experiment is low, and the amount of Vermicompost and soil conditioner also meets the national standards, the amount of Vermicompost and soil conditioner in this experiment is determined.
Reference : Matin, G,Kayıkçıoğlu,H, H. Effect of Vermicompost and biochar application on microbial activity of soil under deficit irrigation. [J]Journal of Global Climate Change,2022,1(2), 51–61.
Point 4: All parameters should be analyzed comprehensively, not simply soil physical and chemical parameters.
Response 4: We greatly appreciate your specific recommendations regarding data analysis . This study is mainly to explore the effects of Vermicompost and soil conditioner on the geographical and chemical properties of saline alkali soil, comprehensively analyze the plant growth index, soil physical and chemical properties and soil microorganisms by using the membership function method, and select an optimal ratio of Vermicompost and soil conditioner, so as to achieve the goal of saline alkali soil improvement. Our analysis method also refers to the relevant literature. In the future ,we will revisit our data and conduct more rigorous analysis.
Reference : Ding, Z., Kheir, A.M., Ali, O.A., Hafez, E.M., ElShamey, E.A., Zhou, Z., Wang, B., Lin, X., Ge, Y., Fahmy, A.E., & Seleiman, M.F. A Vermicompost and deep tillage system to improve saline-sodic soil quality and wheat productivity. Journal of environmental management,2020,277, 111388 .
Point 5: The relevant data of leaf enzyme activity should be re-examined.
Response 5: Many thanks for the reviewer's comment. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT) and other antioxidant enzymes are important enzymes in plant active oxygen scavenging system POD and CAT are easily affected by water, and drought stress will enhance the activities of POD and CAT. Therefore, the CK enzyme activity was higher when the soil moisture content was lower. In addition, we also verified the significant difference analysis.（Figure1）
Reference : Lu,L. Effects of planting density and nitrogen application rate on growth performance and physiological characteristics of Alfalfa in saline alkali soil [j]. pratacultural science, 2021,38 (08): 1570-1578
(Figure 1 in the attachment)
Figure1. Effects of different treatments on the growth of L.chinensis. Lowercase letters indicate whether the samples of the same index are significantly different from each other (p＜0.05)
Point 6: Only correlation analysis and redundancy analysis were carried out, and a large number of microbial data could not be mined effectively.
Response 6: The focus of this paper is to screen out the best ratio of Vermicompost and soil conditioner by observing the changes of soil physical and chemical properties and plant growth indicators in saline alkali land. There are less microbial content involved, so we have not analyzed too much microbial data. At the same time, we also refer to the excellent articles of our peers, and find that our analysis method is similar. However, according to the excellent suggestions of the review experts, we will pay attention to the analysis of microbial data in the follow-up study. Thank you again for your suggestion!
References：Wu, L., Wang, Y., Zhang, S., Wei, W., Kuzyakov, Y., & Ding, X. (2021).
Fertilization effects on microbial community composition and aggregate formation in saline‐alkaline soil. Plant and Soil, 463, 523 - 535.
Point 7: The discussion part fails to show the innovation of the paper, and this paper failed to explain the effect of Vermicompost coupling conditioner on soil salinization.
Response 7: Thanks for the reviewer's suggestion, we strongly agree with the reviewer's viewpoint. Our innovation is to take grass Leymus chinensis L. as the indicator crop, through the effect of Vermicompost combined with soil conditioner on the physical and chemical properties of saline-alkali soil, select the optimal ratio, and provide some technical reference for the improvement of alkaline soil. We found that Vermicompost combined with soil conditioner can effectively improve soil physical and chemical properties and microbial community diversity, improve plant growth indicators, and achieve the purpose of repairing saline alkali soil. We have added relevant content to the original text. Thank you again!
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Please find enclosed my detailed comments.
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Author Response
Manuscript Number: water-2526241
Manuscript Title: Vermicompost Combined with Soil Conditioner Improves the Ecosystem Multifunctionality in Saline-Alkali Land
Article Type: Original research paper
Response to Reviewer 2 Comments
Point 1: ’Saline-alkali soil is a general term for soil that contains both salt and alkali…’ It is true that saline soils have a pH above 7.5 and that soils with high salinity are also called saline. However, these are not the only saline soils. Some saline soils have high water soluble salt content (Solonetz soils), while others have high (more than 5% in base saturation) sodium content (Solonchak soils). Please clarify the wording.
Response 1: Many thanks for the reviewer's suggestion and we agree with this comment. In a broad sense, saline alkali soil is a general term for saline soil and alkaline soil. The salt content in the soil is more than 0.1% -0.2%, or the soil colloid adsorbs a certain amount of exchangeable sodium, and the alkalinity is more than 15% -20%, which is harmful to the normal growth of crops. Including saline soil, alkaline soil and various saline and alkaline soils. In a narrow sense, saline alkali soil refers to both saline and alkaline soil. Thank you again!
Point 2: More detailed description of soil and soil properties (pH, soil depth, structure, texture, exchangeable Na content, water table level, salt/Na content of groundwater, etc) is needed. To make it fully understandable to anyone I suggest to use the WRB terminology. Please classify the soil according to the WRB. I think the full description of the whole soil profile would give us the most proper view of the soil
Response 2: Many thanks for the reviewer's suggestion and we agree with this comment.The soil classified as Salic Fluvisol (Word Reference Base for Soil Resources, WRB system) .The texture is sandy loam containing 21.1 % of sand, 61.7 % of silt,and 17.2 % clay. The experimental site is characterized by a shallow groundwater table and highly saline groundwater. Salt movement in soils is influenced by season, soil structure, irrigation and drainage. Salt return in spring and autumn, that is, the salt in the deep soil dissolves in water and then accumulates on the surface with the rising action of capillaries; salt spraying in summer, that is, when there is more precipitation or other water supply, water dilutes a large amount of salt on the surface into the ground, and it is relatively stable in winter. In the salt return period, the groundwater level is only 30-40cm, and the average groundwater level in the salt spraying period is 1.5m. Relevant contents have been added to the original text. Thank you again for your careful review！
Point 3: The authors report that the soil total salt content varied between 0.12 and 0.28%. There is a huge and remarkable difference between 0.12 and 0.28. Between 0.12 and 0.25%, the soil is slightly saline and the growth of some very salt-sensitive plants will be poorer. Above 0.28, however, the soil is moderately salty and only salt-tolerant plants will grow well. Could you sparate the results data according to the total salt content? This would probably give even more striking results, since soil containing 0.12% salt is practically non-salt soil. (In my country soils above 0,15 % of salt content is considered to be salty by farmers)
Response 3: Thanks for your comment. We set sampling points in the 3m×3m grid of the test area. Each sample point adopts the plum blossom sampling method when sampling. At the sampling point of 30 m ×30 m, 0-20 cm of soil was collected and mixed. About 500 g of soil samples were left by the quartering method and brought back into sealed bags. The salt content was determined by the conductivity measurement method. The average measured soil salt content was 1.9 g • kg − 1, the salt content was 0.19%, belonging to moderate saline alkali soil.
References：Li,x.y. Prediction of soil salt content based on random forest algorithm [J/OL]. Arid area research,2023 ,1-11.
Point 4: As for Vermicompost and SWSC the applied dosage was 3,0 and 1,5; 2,25, and 1,5 and
3,0 kg/m2 respectively. On what basis were these doses chosen?
Response 4: Thanks for your comment. First of all, we confirmed according to the following documents that the amount of Vermicompost and solid waste fertilizer in the article is 20t·ha-1. Considering that the experimental site is moderately saline alkali land, the environment is poor, and the material cost of the experiment is low, and the amount of Vermicompost and soil conditioner also meets the national standards, the amount of Vermicompost and soil conditioner in this experiment is determined.
Reference : Matin, G,Kayıkçıoğlu,H, H. Effect of Vermicompost and biochar application on microbial activity of soil under deficit irrigation. [J]Journal of Global Climate Change,2022,1(2), 51–61.
Point 5: When describing the doses, I suggest to use the unit of kg/ha instead of kg/m2, as this is more manageable for farmers.
Response 5: Thanks for your comment. We have corrected the unit in the revised manuscript. Thank you again for your careful review.
Point 6 We know only a very few things about the applied Vermicompost and solid waste soil conditioner. At least its the most important physical and chemical properties (eg. Accoding to its certificate of quality) are needed. It is not clear that what exactly the solid waste soil conditioner is. Is it a some kind of mixture of domestic sludge (is is a municipal sewage sludge? Or something else) and cow manure? Please describe more precise the applied amendment materials (compositon, physical and chemical properties). Municipal sewage sludge (and a lot of other sluges) always contains heavy metals, toxic elements and other harmful materials (hormone or medicine residues, etc) that can influence its effects on plants and soil microorganisms. Therefore, analysis of those components is vital. It may give us expalantion to some of the different results than expected.Carring out these measurements and comparing these data with the results for enzymes and other parameters examined would increase the value of the manuscript, and may explain and shed light on things that are currently hidden
Response 6: Many thanks for the reviewer's suggestion and we agree with this comment.The development and utilization of coal will produce a large amount of solid waste. The solid waste is made into soil conditioner through special technology, which has good physical properties; Vermicompost is made from cow dung and domestic sludge. Through the treatment of special technology, heavy metal ions are fixed, so as to eliminate the harm of heavy metal ions in Vermicompost. We also added the content of heavy metal ions of soil conditioner and Vermicompost in Table 1, which fully meets the national standard (GB15618-2018), and can be used in the ecological restoration of saline-alkali soil.
Table 1. Composition of saline-alkali soil, soil conditioner, and Vermicompost.
|
Indicator |
Saline-alkali soil |
Vermicompost |
Solid waste soil conditioner |
National standard GB15618-2018 |
|
OM (g·kg−1) |
5.09 |
88.57 |
343.58 |
-- |
|
AvP (mg·kg−1) |
14.46 |
3.81 |
27.4 |
-- |
|
AvK (mg·kg−1) |
70.00 |
886.56 |
0.79 |
-- |
|
AvN (mg·kg−1) |
17.00 |
35.37 |
15.32 |
-- |
|
pH |
8.90 |
7.32 |
5.78 |
-- |
|
Ni(mg·kg−1) |
19.16 |
54 |
61 |
190.00 |
|
As(mg·kg−1) |
1.98 |
2.66 |
1.48 |
25.0 |
|
Cr(mg·kg−1) |
24.54 |
79 |
101 |
250.00 |
|
Zn(mg·kg−1) |
31.01 |
230 |
156 |
300.00 |
|
Cu(mg·kg−1) |
7.55 |
25 |
70 |
100.00 |
|
Cd(mg·kg−1) |
0.03 |
0.09 |
0.03 |
0.60 |
|
Hg(mg·kg−1) |
0.06 |
0.81 |
0.08 |
3.40 |
Point 7: Were the samples collected just before harvesting?
Response 7: Thank you for your careful review.Because the ecological indicators of vegetation before harvest are better, which can more easily reflect the restoration status of saline alkali land, we choose to collect samples before harvest.
Point 8: Authors use the term of SOM (soil organic matter) not only for soil, but also for Vermicompost and SWSC. Soil organic matter (SOM) refers to the organic matter component of soil. It contains detritus of both plant and animal origin at various decomposition stages, soil microorganisms and their products. It can be used only for soils. From chapter 2.3, it seems to me that not the soil organic matter but soil organic carbon conent (SOC) was determined. Is it real? As for soil 5.09 refers to SOC or to the humus content, used to be calculated from SOC content? Please check it and improve.
Response 8: Thanks for your important comment.We have replaced SOM in Table 1 with OM. We use the hydration heat potassium dichromate oxidation colorimetric method to determine soil organic carbon(SOC). The principle of this method is to use the heat generated by adding concentrated sulfuric acid to potassium dichromate aqueous solution, and potassium dichromate oxidizes organic carbon in organic matter, part of the hexavalent chromium was reduced to degradable trivalent chromium. The reduced trivalent chromium was determined by colorimetry, and the content of organic matter was calculated by using glucose carbon as a simulated color scale. In this method, the empirical coefficient of 1.724 was introduced to calculate soil organic matter(SOM). Thank you again for your suggestions.
Point 9: Soil pH used to be measured from a soil:liquid suspension, where the liquid is distilled water or 1 M KCl or sometimes CaCl2. Which liquid was used? Please sign in the description as they provide different numerical values. Available –P was determined from Olsen solution, but what about the potassium? Both of them were measured by flame photometric method? Please improve.
Response 9: Thanks for your important comment.,pH is measured in a liquid suspension using distilled water. Available potassium was determined from Ammonium acetate solution extraction. Thank you again for your suggestions.
Reference :
[1]Guo,Y.F. Discussion and correlation study on the determination of soil available potassium using ammonium acetate flame photometry and M3 method [J]. Shanxi Science and Technology, 2014,29 (05): 54-56.
[2]Li,J. Study on the Determination of Effective Phosphorus in Soil by Sodium Bicarbonate Extraction [J]. Resource Conservation and Environmental Protection, 2019 (10): 105.
[3]Hou,J.W.; Xing,C.F.; Yang,L.L.Optimization and Reform of Soil Alkaline Hydrolyzed Nitrogen Determination Method [J]. Journal of Southwest Normal University (Natural Science Edition), 2021,46 (07): 45-49.
Point 10: What do authors mean by soil gravitational moisture? Only the gravitational water/moisture content (pF 0-1.8) was measured or the soil moisture comtent? From the method described I see that soil moisture content was determined as it usual. Please improve.
Response 10: Thanks for your important comment. The gravitational moisture of soil is the ratio of water in soil sample to the weight of dry soil. The soil water content generally refers to the absolute water content of soil, that is, there are several grams of water in 100 grams of dried soil, also known as soil water content.It has been changed to "soil moisture ".
Point 11: In the 4. and 5. rows it contains repetitions of words (diameter).
Response 11: Thanks for your important comment. What the author wants to express is that the leaf area, biomass and diameter of different treatments are increased, and the difference of leaf area and diameter is significant.
Point 12: As for Biomass graph significance at SC-T2 column could not be signed by ’ab’, because there is no ’b’. I think it should be ’a’. Please check it. As for Height graph significance at SC-T1 and SC-T2 columns could not be signed by ’ab’, because there is no ’a’. I do not have the data, buta s I can see from the graph SC-T2 is ’a’ and SC-T1 is ’ab’. Please check it over. As for SDO graph, if SC-T2 column could be signed as ’ab’, the SC-T1 column could not be signed by ’a’. Is it ’b’? Please check it. Please syncronize the figure with the body text.
Response 12: Thanks for your important comment. Verified and modified in the manuscript, as shown in the following figure 2. Thank you again for your careful review.
Figure2.Effects of different treatments on the growth of L.chinensis. Lowercase letters indicate whether the samples of the same index are significantly different from each other (p＜0.05)
Point 13: I suggest to enlarge the numbers and the letters（Fig.4/5/6/8）.
Response 13: Thanks for your important comment. According to your suggestion, we have carefully checked the figures to ensure that the requirement is satisfied and modified in the manuscript.
Point 14: In the first sentence of the second paragraph there is a word of The (with large ’T’) in the middle of the sentence. Please replace it with a small ’t’. (Chapter 3.2)
Response 14: Thanks for your comment. According to your suggestion, we have carefully checked the manuscript to ensure that the requirement is satisfied. Thank you again for your careful review.
Point 15: It is witten that ’ Compared with the control, Vermicompost combined with soil conditioner could effectively improve the physical and chemical properties of salinealkali soil, and pH, soil organic matter, soil available phosphorus and available potassium reached significant difference levels (p<0.05).’ But actually the pH was decreased (to decrease the pH is a general aim in case of saline soils) only in the SC-T2 treatment. (Chapter 3.2)
Response 15: Many thanks for the reviewer’s comments and we agree with the suggestions. We think this is a very important comment. Vermicompost is rich in organic acids, which can combine with cations in the soil to form a buffer, so it can adjust the pH of the soil. However, the proportion of soil conditioner SC-T1 is relatively high,increased the buffer strength of the soil and led to abnormal changes in pH.
Point 16: In Table 1 it is said that AvK is 70 ppm in Control traetment, but in the graph (g) it is only 35. The problem is the same for AvP, SOM and AvN in case of all the treatments. Please check it, and improve the data.
Response 16: Thanks for your important comment. The data in Table 1 are measured before planting plants, while the data in Figure 5 are measured after planting plants, so the data are different. Thank you again for your careful review.
Point 17: In pH graph it is not clear thet how the soil pH could be higher in SC-T1 than in Control while low pH materials were incorporated into the soil. Please check it, and improve the data.
Response 17: Thanks for your important comment.In fact, The pH value of Vermicompost and Solid waste soil conditioner is low, Vermicompost is rich in organic acids, which can combine with cations in the soil to form a buffer, so it can adjust the pH of the soil. However, in this study, the treatment of sc-t1 increased the pH of the soil, which may be due to the higher proportion of SC-T1 soil conditioner, which increased the buffer strength of the soil and led to abnormal changes in pH.
Point 18: Legend are written in to small letters, it could be hardly seen. I suggest to enlarge the letters.
Response 18: Thanks for your important comment. We have modified the original drawing. Thank you again for your careful review.
Point 19: Letters and signs in the diffrent coloured boxes are too small. I suggest to enlarge them. In the title of the figure significance level is written as P<0.05 but somewhere alse it is signed as p<0.05. Please mark it uniformly. I think is is generally marked with small ’p’.
Response 19: Thanks for your comment. Relevant contents have been added in the original chart title. Thank you again for your careful review.
Point 20: Have the authors data regarding the yields? It would be very important. And what about the chemical composition of the yield (eg. nutrient and other elements uptaken)? Economically, did it worth to apply the amendments? These results also would be interesting for a future manuscript. . I suggest to carry out this work to evaluate the long-term effects.
Response 20: Many thanks for the reviewer’s comments and we agree with the suggestions. We think this is a very important suggestion. First of all, we have the data related to plant biomass, which can calculate the yield; Secondly, our research mainly focuses on the ecological restoration of soil, so the content of nutrients and chemical elements of plants has not been described too much. In the subsequent experiments, we will adopt this excellent suggestion to increase the determination of plant nutrients and chemical elements. Thank you again for your suggestion!
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
The manuscript titled (Vermicompost Combined with Soil Conditioner Improves the Ecosystem Multifunctionality in Saline-Alkali Land), the authors studied the potential of different combinations of vermicompost and coal based conditioner on the improvement of saline- alkaline soil compared to control. They studied physicochemical and biological responses to the treatments, they found that the addition of soil conditioner and vermicompost rates of 3.00 kg·m−2 and 1.50 kg·m−2, respectively was the most effective treatment.
The Abstract needs to be more informative
Introduction is well organized in represented a full idea about the research subject
In material and method part:
Please replace (SOM) in table 1 by (OM) because not all materials used are soil
What is the type of soil texture (very important)
How did you estimated the soil salt content in g.kg-1
The materials used in the research, such as charcoal and vermicompost, were used as soil conditioners. Therefore, measuring their content of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium is not as important as measuring their specific density, the vermicompost content of microbes, the size of coal particles, its source, its specific surface area, and its ability to adsorb cations such as sodium, etc.. Therefore, it is necessary to elaborate on the characterization of the materials used.
The macronutrient content of the materials that were used in the experiment varied (Table 1), so it was necessary to balance the nutrient content of each treatment to neutralize the effect of the nutrient content of the treatments on the results.. But the researcher did not add any fertilizers during the experiment.
Results is well presented
Figures and tables are acceptable
Discussion needs to be improved depending on the information required to be added in the materials and method part
References is recent and adequate
Author Response
Manuscript Number: water-2526241
Manuscript Title: Vermicompost Combined with Soil Conditioner Improves the Ecosystem Multifunctionality in Saline-Alkali Land
Article Type: Original research paper
Response to Reviewer 3 Comments
Point 1: The Abstract needs to be more informative.
Response 1: Thank you for your comment. According to your valuable suggestion, we have modified the abstract . The contents we added in the introduction are as follows ：
In summary, Vermicompost and soil conditioner can improve the saline alkali land by supplementing organic matter and effective nutrients, improving pH and conductivity, and regulating microbial community, so as to realize the restoration and improvement of saline alkali land, the greatest improvement was achieved with soil conditioner and Vermicompost application rates of 30000 kg·ha−2 and 15000 kg·ha−2.
Point 2: Please replace (SOM) in table 1 by (OM) because not all materials used are soil.
Response 2: Thank you for your comment.We have revised it in the original text. Thank you again for your careful review.
Point 3: What is the type of soil texture (very important).How did you estimated the soil salt content in g.kg-1
Response 3: Thanks for your important comments. After collecting 0-20cm soil from 12 areas in the test area, it was determined that the salt content of the test land was 1.9 g·kg −1, which was moderately saline alkali land, and the relevant content had been added in the original text, of course, we use the unit of g · kg − 1, which makes our calculation and comparison more convenient.
Point 4: The materials used in the research, such as charcoal and Vermicompost, were used as soil conditioners. Therefore, measuring their content of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium is not as important as measuring their specific density, the Vermicompost content of microbes, the size of coal particles, its source, its specific surface area, and its ability to adsorb cations such as sodium, etc.. Therefore, it is necessary to elaborate on the characterization of the materials used.
Response 3: Thanks for your important comments. Since this study is mainly to confirm whether the goal of saline alkali land improvement has been achieved by measuring the soil physical and chemical indicators of the use of Vermicompost and soil conditioner, the physical and chemical indicators of improved materials (Vermicompost and soil conditioner) have been emphatically determined. We also added some indicators of improved materials in Table 1 of the original text. In the follow-up study, we will add measurement specific density, the Vermicompost content of microbes, the size of coal particlesa and specific surface area. Thank you again for your careful review.
Point 5: The macronutrient content of the materials that were used in the experiment varied (Table 1), so it was necessary to balance the nutrient content of each treatment to neutralize the effect of the nutrient content of the treatments on the results.. But the researcher did not add any fertilizers during the experiment.
Response 5: This study mainly discussed the effects of Vermicompost and soil conditioner on the physical and chemical properties of saline alkali soil. Although the contents of nutrient elements in earthworm manure and soil conditioner are different, we control the application rate after they are mixed evenly to distinguish different treatments, which has nothing to do with the nutrients of the fertilizer. Thank you again for your excellent suggestion.
Point 6: Discussion needs to be improved depending on the information required to be added in the materials and method part.References is recent and adequate.
Response 6: We greatly appreciate your specific recommendations regarding article.In the material part, we added the detailed description of the moisture content of the test site, soil (WRB system) and earthworm fertilizer soil conditioner, and improved the relevant description of the test design and partial index determination. In the discussion part, the introduction of earthworm fertilizer and soil conditioner on improving saline alkali soil was added, and the innovation and significance of this study were explained.
And the references were screened. Thank you again for your excellent suggestion.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
The synergistic effect of soil improvement coupled with vermicompost and its internal mechanism were not well described in this paper, and the comprehensive analysis of data was weak. Unfortunately, there are no interesting results to be found in the current discussion version.
Author Response
Many thanks for the reviewer's suggestion and we agree with this comment. As you mentioned, this study mainly studies the improvement effect of Vermicompost combined with soil conditioner on saline alkali soil. By analyzing relevant physicochemical indicators and membership functions, we determine the optimal ratio of Vermicompost combined with soil conditioner, achieving our research objectives. Regarding the analysis of the lack of synergistic effects and underlying mechanisms between Vermicompost and soil improvement, this article does indeed address this issue. Therefore, relevant content on the synergistic effects and underlying mechanisms between Vermicompost and soil improvement was supplemented in the discussion, as follows: (Line 372-389)
Vermicomposting contains a large number of beneficial microorganisms, which can promote the decomposition of organic matter and mineralization of nutrients in soil conditioner, especially the content of available phosphorus[56]. Our research shows that Vermicomposting can enhance the richness of some specific phyla, such as Acidobacteria, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria. Acidobacteria plays an important role in the nitrogen cycle of earthworm fertilizer soil conditioner nutrient system, and can produce polyketide synthase and nonribosomal peptide synthase. These enzymes can catalyze the synthesis of iron carrier in soil conditioner, so as to improve soil nutrients and promote plant growth; Firmicutes is considered to be a major co trophic microbiota, which plays an important role in the degradation of soil conditioner fertilizer and increases the utilization efficiency of soil nutrient system; Proteobacteria can participate in the nutrient decomposition process of soil conditioner, and activate the fixed nutrients in soil conditioner to free state[57]. Although some nutrients of soil conditioner are higher than that of earthworm fertilizer, its microbial species and quantity are lower than that of earthworm fertilizer. The appropriate proportion of earthworm fertilizer combined with soil conditioner combines the advantages of both, which can accelerate the decomposition rate of organic matter in saline alkali soil, increase the amount of humus in saline alkali soil, promote the formation of soil aggregate structure, and then fertilize the soil.
References：
56.Xu, Z.N.; Wang ,C.; Zhu, C. Effects of vermicompost and soil proportion on the microbial property of substrate and the growth and quality of leek [J]. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Fertilizers, 2019, 25(03): 519- 524.
57.Wang, B.L.; Wang, C.; Liu, M,L.; Ecological remediation of earthworms on soil-plant system: A review [J]. Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology, 2021, 32(06): 2259- 2266.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
The authors have made the necessary corrections and the improved manuscript is now ready for publication.
Author Response
Thank you for your careful review and guidance, pointing out my shortcomings, and I feel that I have made great progress. Thank you again for your recognition of the article!
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Thank you for incorporating the suggested corrections. The revisions have definitely enhanced the clarity and accuracy of the content. I appreciate your careful review and collaboration.
Author Response
Thank you for your careful review and guidance, pointing out my shortcomings, and I feel that I have made great progress. Thank you again for your recognition of the article!
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
