Tree species effects on soil enzyme activities through effects on soil physicochemical and microbial properties in a tropical montane forest on Mt. Kinabalu, Borneo

Long-term afforestation strongly changes the soil’s physicochemical and biological properties. However, the underlying mechanism of different tree species driving change in soil nutrients is still unclear in the long-term dryland plantations of the Loess Plateau, China. In this study, samples of surface soil (0–20 cm) and woody litter were collected from five plantations (≥50 years) of Caragana korshinskii, Armeniaca sibirica, Populus hopeiensis, Platycladus orientalis, and Pinus tabulaeformis and a natural grassland, and tested for the carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium contents, as well as the soil sucrase (SC), urease (UE), and alkaline phosphorus (ALP) activities. We found that soil nutrients, enzyme activities, and the litter’s chemical properties obviously varied among five tree species. C. korshinskii significantly increased the soil’s TC, organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), available nitrogen (AN), and available potassium (AK) by 28.42%, 56.08%, 57.41%, 107.25%, and 10.29%, respectively, and also increased the soil’s available phosphorus (AP) by 18.56%; while P. orientalis significantly decreased soil TN (38.89%), TP (30.58%), AP (76.39%), TK (8.25%), and AK (8.33%), and also decreased soil OC (18.01%) and AN (1.09%), compared with those in grassland. The C. korshinskii plantation had higher quality litter and soil enzyme activities than the P. orientalis plantation. Moreover, 62.2% of the total variation in soil nutrients was explained by the litter’s chemical properties and soil enzyme activities, and the litter phosphorus (LP) and soil ALP had a more significant and positive impact on soil nutrients. Therefore, tree species, LP, and soil ALP were key factors driving soil nutrient succession in dryland plantations. The significantly positive nitrogen–phosphorus coupling relationship in the “litter–enzyme–soil” system revealed that the improving nitrogen level promoted the phosphorus cycle of the plantation ecosystem. Our results suggest that leguminous tree species are more suitable for dryland afforestation through the regulation of litter quality and soil enzyme activities.

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Effects of Tree Species and Soil Enzyme Activities on Soil Nutrients in The Dryland Plantations

10.21203/rs.3.rs-681222/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Yage Li ◽

Chun Han ◽

Shan Sun ◽

Changming Zhao

Keyword(s):

Soil Nutrients ◽

Tree Species ◽

Enzyme Activities ◽

Soil Enzyme ◽

Total Carbon ◽

Pinus Tabulaeformis ◽

Soil Enzyme Activities ◽

Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽

High Quality

Abstract Background Long-term afforestation of different tree species strongly changes the soil physicochemical and biological properties. However, how tree species through litter quality and soil enzyme activities affect the succession of soil nutrients is still unclear in the dryland plantations. In this study, samples of surface soil (0–20 cm) and woody litter were collected from 55 years Caragana korshinskii, and 50 years Armeniaca sibirica, Populus hopeiensis, Platycladus orientalis, and Pinus tabulaeformis, and the natural grassland, and tested for the carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium contents, as well as the soil sucrase (SC), urease (UE), and alkaline phosphorus (ALP) activities. Results We found that long-term dryland plantations increased soil total carbon (TC) by 1.69%-28.42%, but significantly decreased soil total phosphorus (TP) and total potassium (TK) by 11.87%-30.58% and 4.69%-8.25%. The C. korshinskii significantly increased soil TC, organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), available nitrogen (AN), available potassium (AK), UE, and ALP by 28.42%, 56.08%, 57.41%, 107.25%, 10.29%, 11.00%, and 107.81%, respectively, and also raised soil available phosphorus (AP) by 18.56%; while the P. orientalis significantly decreased soil TN, TP, AP, TK, AK, and UE by 38.89%, 30.58%, 76.39%, 8.25%, 8.33%, and 18.97%, respectively, and also reduced soil SC and ALP by 3.84% and 25.32%, compared to those in grassland. In addition, the C. korshinskii produced high-quality litter with lower carbon, the highest nitrogen and phosphorus, and higher potassium contents than those of P. orientalis. The litter chemical properties and soil enzyme activities together explained 62.2% of the total variation of soil nutrients, especially the litter phosphorus (LP) and soil ALP. Therefore, the tree species, LP, and soil ALP were key factors driving soil nutrient succession in dryland plantations. And the significantly positive coupling relationship between nitrogen and phosphorus in the "litter-enzyme-soil" system revealed that the improvement of nitrogen level promoted the phosphorus cycle of the ecosystem. Conclusions This study suggests choosing leguminous tree species with high-quality litter to establish plantations in the phosphorus-limited dryland, which will improve soil nutrients and alleviate nutrient limitations by adjusting soil enzyme activities.

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Effects of afforestation with different tree species on soil enzyme activities and nutrient content in eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China

Acta Ecologica Sinica ◽

10.5846/stxb201409221877 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 36 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

舒媛媛 SHU Yuanyuan ◽

黄俊胜 HUANG Junsheng ◽

赵高卷 ZHAO Gaojuan ◽

包维楷 BAO Weikai ◽

李根前 LI Genqian ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Tree Species ◽

Enzyme Activities ◽

Nutrient Content ◽

Soil Enzyme ◽

Soil Enzyme Activities

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The Effects of Fungicide, Soil Fumigant, Bio-Organic Fertilizer and Their Combined Application on Chrysanthemum Fusarium Wilt Controlling, Soil Enzyme Activities and Microbial Properties

Molecules ◽

10.3390/molecules21040526 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 21 (4) ◽

pp. 526 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Shuang Zhao ◽

Xi Chen ◽

Shiping Deng ◽

Xuena Dong ◽

Aiping Song ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fusarium Wilt ◽

Enzyme Activities ◽

Organic Fertilizer ◽

Soil Enzyme ◽

Soil Enzyme Activities ◽

Soil Fumigant ◽

Microbial Properties ◽

Combined Application

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Effects of tree species on soil enzyme activities in natural mixed forest and monoculture plantations in Ethiopia

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-21746 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Iftekhar Uddin Ahmed ◽

Hodaddis K Mengistie ◽

Hans Sandén ◽

Douglas Godbold

Keyword(s):

Microbial Biomass ◽

Tree Species ◽

Enzyme Activities ◽

Eucalyptus Globulus ◽

Soil Enzyme ◽

Northern Ethiopia ◽

Indigenous Species ◽

Soil Enzyme Activities ◽

Indigenous Tree Species ◽

Indigenous Trees

Soil extracellular enzymes are crucial for belowground functioning and are sensitive to anthropogenic land use change. The potential effects of tree species on soil microbial and biochemical properties provide crucial feedbacks on mineralization, a key ecosystem function beneath the tree canopy. In the highlands of northern Ethiopia, remnants of the original Afromontane forests are largely restricted to church forests with indigenous tree species. However the impacts on potential soil enzymatic activity by conversion of those forests to monocultures for wood production is largely unknown. We investigated potential soil enzyme activities under four indigenous tree species and adjacent Eucalyptus globulus and Cupressus lusitanica plantations in Gelawdios, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia. The potential activities of six enzymes associated with soil C, N and P cycling were measured following the fluorometrically labelled substrates techniques. All enzymes exhibited significantly higher activities in soils under the indigenous trees than the plantation species except, N-acetylglucosaminidase, that was the highest in Eucalyptus globulus soil due to the ectomycorrhizae, associated with the Eucalyptus root systems. Among the four indigenous species Apodytes dimidiata showed the lowest activitie for most of the enzymes. A stronger positive correlation was observed between enzyme activity and total N than with total C in the soil. Acid phosphatase had the highest activity followed by &#160;&#946;-Glucosidase (482 and 167 nmol mg-1 microbial biomass respectively). The activities of leucine aminopeptidase, &#946;-xylosidase, N-Acetylglucosaminidase and cellobiohydrolase in soils under indigenous trees ranged between 63-23 nmol mg-1 microbial biomass. The species specific effects of trees on soil enzyme activities indicate strong influence of tree traits on mineralization processes. &#160; &#160;&#160;

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