Soil health changes induced by prairie reconstruction (cultivated fields to tallgrass prairie) were assessed in Central Missouri within sites representing a chronosequence of 0, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13-yr post-reconstruction. In addition, a nearby remnant native prairie, two long-term reconstructed prairies (~25 and ~57-yr post-reconstruction), and a biofuel prairie 9-yr post-reconstruction were evaluated for comparative purposes. From 0 to 8-yr, prairie reconstruction increased soil aggregation, total soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), active C and N (permanganate oxidizable C and total protein), and mineralizable C and N (soil respiration and potentially mineralizable nitrogen), becoming more similar to levels in the remnant prairie. Further, four enzymes involved in the cycling of C (β-glucosidase), N (β-glucosaminidase), P (acid phosphatase), and S (arylsulfatase) demonstrated amplified activities within samples collected to a depth of 15-cm. Over time, the ratios of active C to SOC and active N to TN declined, reflecting the conversion of active C/N pools into more stable C/N pools due to continued organic inputs and increased microbial activity. In contrast, from 8- to 13-yr post-reconstruction, the number of these same soil health indicators declined, which may be attributed to historical land use, the improvement of prairie reconstruction and management strategies, and ecological processes related to succession. Overall, prairie reconstruction holds great potential for soil health restoration in degraded agricultural landscapes, and further study is needed to understand how historical land use and prairie reconstruction practices affect soil health and ecological resilience.

在密苏里州中部评估了代表草原重建的时间序列为0、2、3、4、6、9、10、11、12和13年的时序的草原重建所引起的土壤健康变化（从耕地到高草草原）。 。此外，为了进行比较，还评估了附近的残留原生草原，两个长期重建的草原（重建后约25和〜57年）以及重建后9年的生物燃料草原。从0到8年，草原重建增加了土壤的聚集，土壤的总有机碳（SOC），总氮（TN），活性碳和氮（高锰酸盐可氧化的碳和总蛋白质）以及可矿化的碳和氮（土壤的呼吸作用和潜在的矿化氮），变得与残存草原的水平更加相似。此外，四种酶参与了C（β-葡萄糖苷酶），N（β-葡萄糖苷酶），P（酸性磷酸酶）和S（芳基硫酸酯酶）表现出在15厘米深度采集的样品中的扩增活性。随着时间的流逝，活性碳与SOC的比率以及活性氮与TN的比率下降，反映出由于持续的有机输入和微生物活性的提高，活性C / N池转化为更稳定的C / N池。相反，从重建后的8年到13年，这些相同的土壤健康指标数量有所下降，这可能归因于历史土地用途，草原重建和管理策略的改进以及与演替相关的生态过程。总体而言，草原重建在退化的农业景观中具有恢复土壤健康的巨大潜力，