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Plant species and season influence soil physicochemical properties and microbial function in a semi-arid woodland ecosystem

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Abstract

Aims

This research investigated the effects of woody plant identity and season on soil physicochemical properties and microbiological function in the semi-arid Zagros forest, one of the old-growth semi-arid oak forests in the world.

Methods

Soil sampling was conducted beneath the canopy of six woody (tree and shrub) species in spring and winter. Microbial variables analysed included soil basal respiration (BR), microbial biomass C and N (MBC and MBN), microbial entropy index (MIE), substrate induced respiration (SIR) and enzymatic activities (i.e., urease and alkaline phosphatase). Soil physicochemical properties were also analysed and included pH, electrical conductivity (EC), available calcium and magnesium (Ca2+ and Mg2+), organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (Ntot), lime, water content (WC), bulk density (BD), clay, silt and sand.

Results

Results demonstrated significant differences among the woody species (Pseudo-F = 56.31; p = 0.001), season (Pseudo-F = 97.37; p = 0.001) and their interaction (Pseudo-F = 2.96; p = 0.005) for the matrix of microbiological soil parameters. Differences were species-specific for shrubs and trees with a marked effect for tree species such as Quercus brantii. Microbial parameters were consistently higher in spring when higher temperature and lower moisture were recorded. Soil OC, Ntot, BD, and WC were important drivers of the soil microbial function.

Conclusions

Our results evidenced a strong effect of season and plant species on soil physicochemical and microbiological soil properties in a semi-arid forest ecosystem. Higher values of microbiological soil parameters, including urease and phosphatase activities, were recorded for tree species during spring season.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Mr. M. Kosha and Mr. A. Azemi for their tireless assistance with field sampling and also Mr. A. Chabok for his expert technical assistance at the laboratory analysis. This work was done by financial support of Ilam University, Ilam, Iran. MMR was supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award DE180100570.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forest Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Ilam University, Ilam, Iran

    Parasto Eslaminejad & Mehdi Heydari

  2. Department of Soil and Water Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Ilam University, Ilam, Iran

    Fatemeh Valizadeh Kakhki

  3. Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, Ilam University, Ilam, Iran

    Majid Mirab-balou

  4. Department of Rangeland and Watershed Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Ilam University, Ilam, Iran

    Reza Omidipour

  5. Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, The UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Miriam Muñoz-Rojas

  6. School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, 6009, Australia

    Miriam Muñoz-Rojas

  7. School of Plant Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia

    Miriam Muñoz-Rojas

  8. Escuela Técnica Superior Ingenieros Agrónomos y Montes, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Universitario, E-02071, Albacete, Spain

    Manuel Esteban Lucas-Borja

Authors
  1. Parasto Eslaminejad
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  2. Mehdi Heydari
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  3. Fatemeh Valizadeh Kakhki
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  4. Majid Mirab-balou
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  5. Reza Omidipour
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  6. Miriam Muñoz-Rojas
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  7. Manuel Esteban Lucas-Borja
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mehdi Heydari.

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Responsible Editor: Timothy J. Fahey

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Eslaminejad, P., Heydari, M., Kakhki, F.V. et al. Plant species and season influence soil physicochemical properties and microbial function in a semi-arid woodland ecosystem. Plant Soil 456, 43–59 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04691-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04691-1

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