Jie Xu^1,2

1 Huangcunqiao Village Committee, Jiangjia Town, Chun'an County, Chun'an 311722, Zhejiang, China
2 Zhejiang Agronomist College, Hangzhou 310021, Zhejiang, China
Author    Correspondence author
Molecular Soil Biology, 2026, Vol. 17, No. 4   
Received: 01 Jun., 2026    Accepted: 05 Jul., 2026    Published: 17 Jul., 2026

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Grass cover cultivation has emerged as an important ecological management strategy for improving soil quality and promoting sustainable citrus production. This review summarizes the effects of grass cover systems on soil fertility and ecosystem functions in citrus orchards, with emphasis on soil physical properties, nutrient cycling, microbial communities, and ecological services. Grass cover cultivation improves soil structure, enhances aggregate stability, regulates soil moisture dynamics, and reduces soil erosion through continuous organic matter input and root activity. In addition, grass cover promotes soil organic carbon accumulation, increases nutrient availability, and stimulates soil enzyme activities involved in carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus transformations. By modifying rhizosphere environments, grass cover systems enhance microbial diversity, strengthen beneficial microbial interactions, and contribute to improved soil health and plant resilience. Furthermore, grass-covered orchards support biodiversity conservation, regulate resource flows, and enhance ecosystem stability. Case studies of artificial grass planting, natural vegetation management, and integrated sustainable citrus production demonstrate the potential of grass cover cultivation for improving orchard productivity and ecological sustainability. However, challenges related to grass species selection, nutrient competition, and long-term management optimization remain. Future research should focus on multi-dimensional assessments of plant-soil-microbe interactions and the development of region-specific grass cover management strategies for sustainable citrus orchard systems.

Grass cover cultivation; Citrus orchard; Soil fertility; Soil microbial community; Ecosystem functions