Background and aims In Vietnam, Si accumulator crops like rice and maize crops are commonly rotated, but rice straw is often removed for animal feed. This study assessed whether rice straw mulch could improve soil available Si and maize growth. Methods A field experiment was conducted over three years in two fields with different soil Si levels. Four rice straw mulch levels (0, 3.5, 7, and 10.5 t ha⁻ 1 ) were applied during th...

The functions and compositions of symbiotic bacterial communities often correlate with host ecology. Yet cause–effect relationships and the order of symbiont vs. host change remain unclear in the face of ancient symbioses and conserved host ecology. Several groups of ants exemplify this challenge, as their low‐nitrogen diets and specialized symbioses appear conserved and ancient. To address whether nitrogen‐provisioning symbio...