Soil microbial community structure in rice rotation systems with crops and pastures in temperate Uruguay.

Rice in southern South America is mainly associated with livestock production in rotation with pastures of three to four years in length, but there is interest in intensifying production by increasing the frequency of rice, introducing new crops, or shortening the pasture in the rotation. However, little is known about the impact of this perturbation on agroecosystems resilience. In 2012, a long-term experiment was established in the main rice-producing area of Uruguay to study the impact of the intensification of rotations on the sustainability of rice systems.