Short-term greenhouse vegetable cultivation induced residue of phthalate esters and changes of soil microbial community

The conversion of long-term rice-wheat rotation fields to greenhouse vegetable cultivation (GVC) covered by plastic film has been widely adopted in China for its economic benefits, however, its short-term environmental impacts remain poorly understood. This study examined correlations between GVC, potential plastic-derived phthalate ester (PAE) contaminations and soil microbial communities during an initial six-month transition period. We investigated these shifts in soils transitioning from long-term rice-wheat rotation to GVC under inorganic fertilization and organic manure. Results showed that fertilization enhanced the availability of soil nutrients. However, the application of inorganic and organic fertilizers resulted in reductions of soil pH by 6.35% and 5.49% respectively. GVC substantially elevated PAE concentrations in the soil from 0.26 mg kg⁻¹ to 1.03 and 1.21 mg kg⁻¹ under inorganic and organic fertilization, respectively, and triggered systemic accumulation in capsicum (root > stem > fruit > leaf). The application of organic fertilizer led to more pronounced declines in soil microbial richness, with reductions of 9.76% in the Chao1 index and 12.2% in phylogenetic diversity, compared to the lesser reductions of 2.73% and 6.14% observed under inorganic fertilization. Redundancy analysis identified soil pH, dissolved organic carbon, total potassium, C/N ratio, clay content, and PAEs as key drivers of microbial community restructuring. The richness (Chao1 index) and diversity (Shannon index) of soil bacteria declined significantly with increasing PAE concentrations ( p < 0.05). These findings highlight trade-offs between soil fertility enhancement and ecological risks in intensive GVC systems and underscore the need for optimized fertilization strategies to mitigate PAE contamination and preserve microbial integrity during land-use transitions.