Land use/cover and management practices are widely known to influence soil organic matter (SOM) quality and quantity. The present study investigated the effect of different land use, i.e., forests viz. mixed forest cover (MFC), Prosopis juliflora (Sw.) DC-dominated forest cover (PFC), and cultivated sites viz. agriculture field (AF), vegetable field (VF), respectively, on soil parameter, microbial activity, and enzymes involved in soil nutrient cycle in a semiarid region of India. The results showed a significant reduction (P < 0.05) in soil carbon (SC), soil nitrogen (SN) content (~ 30–80%) and consequently the soil microbial biomass carbon (SMBC) (~ 70–80%), soil basal respiration (SBR), soil substrate-induced respiration (SSIR), and soil enzyme activities (β-glucosidase, acid phosphatase, and dehydrogenase) under cultivated sites in comparison with forest sites. Pearson’s correlation showed that a positive correlation of SC with SMBC, SBR, SSIR (P < 0.01), and enzymatic activities (i.e., β-glucosidase, dehydrogenase) (P < 0.05) may imply the critical role of SC in regulating microbial and enzymatic activity. Also, a positive correlation of soil moisture with urease activity (P < 0.01) was found suggesting it as a significant abiotic factor for soil biological functions. Additionally, based on the PCA analysis, we observed the clustering of SMBC/SC ratio and qCO2 nearby AF. Our study suggests that soil microbial parameters (SMBC, SBR, SSIR, SMBC/SC, qCO2) and enzyme activity are key indicators of soil health and fertility. Land use/cover alters the SOM content and soil microbial functions. The management strategies focusing on the conservation of natural forest and minimizing the land disturbances will be effective in preventing soil carbon flux as CO2 and maintaining the SC stock.

中文翻译：

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印度半干旱地区不同土地利用/覆盖下根际土壤微生物和酶活性的评估

众所周知，土地使用/覆盖和管理做法会影响土壤有机质（SOM）的质量和数量。本研究调查了不同土地利用的影响，即森林。混合森林覆盖物（MFC），Prosopis juliflora（Sw。）DC为主的森林覆盖物（PFC）和耕地。印度半干旱地区的农业参数（AF），菜地（VF​​）分别涉及土壤参数，微生物活性和参与土壤养分循环的酶。结果表明，土壤碳（SC），土壤氮（SN）含量（〜30–80％）和土壤微生物生物量碳（SMBC）（〜70–80％），土壤显着减少（P <0.05）基础呼吸（SBR），土壤基质诱导的呼吸（SSIR）和土壤酶活性（β-葡萄糖苷酶，酸性磷酸酶，和脱氢酶）与林地相比。皮尔森相关性表明，SC与SMBC，SBR，SSIR和酶活性（即β-葡萄糖苷酶，脱氢酶）（P <0.05）呈正相关（P <0.05），可能暗示了SC在调节微生物和酶中的关键作用。活动。此外，还发现土壤水分与脲酶活性呈正相关（P <0.01），表明它是土壤生物学功能的重要非生物因子。此外，基于PCA分析，我们观察到SMBC / SC比值和qCO2在AF附近的聚类。我们的研究表明，土壤微生物参数（SMBC，SBR，SSIR，SMBC / SC，qCO2）和酶活性是土壤健康和肥力的关键指标。土地利用/覆盖改变了土壤有机质含量和土壤微生物功能。