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Response of Ecoenzymatic Stoichiometry to Soil Physicochemical Properties after Afforestation on Loess Hilly Region

  • DEGRADATION, REHABILITATION, AND CONSERVATION OF SOILS
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Abstract—

Afforestation has significantly affected interactions between soil nutrients and microbial enzymes. To understand the detailed variations in extracellular enzyme activity and their link with soil nutrient availability after returning farmland (FL) to forest, soil samples were collected from FL and three afforested lands, Robinia pseudoacacia L. forest (RP), Caragana korshinskii Kom. forest (CK), and abandoned land (AL) in the Loess Hilly Region of northern China. The soil enzymes: β-glucosidase (BG), N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG), alkaline phosphatase (AP), and leucine aminopeptidase (LAP); their stoichiometric ratios; and soil properties such as soil organic carbon, total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), dissolved organic carbon, dissolved organic nitrogen, available phosphorus, soil moisture content (SMC), soil bulk density, and pH were measured. The BG activity showed similar trends as AP activity during afforestation, reaching the highest level in CK and showing a value 205% higher than that in FL. The NAG and LAP activities were not altered by afforestation; only the (NAG + LAP) : AP ratio decreased significantly by 44 to 60%. The BG : AP and (NAG + LAP) : AP ratios were strongly correlated with pH. Compared with other soil physicochemical properties, the soil moisture content greatly affected soil enzyme activity. The most relevant nutrients for the enzymes and stoichiometry were TN and TN : TP. Thus, our results suggest that soil enzyme activity and its stoichiometry are sensitive to changes in soil physical and chemical properties and total soil nutrients content, particularly pH, SMC, TN, and TN : TP.

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Funding

The fieldwork and this study were supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41877543), National Student’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program (201810712057), and National Natural Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFC0504601).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University, 712100, Yangling, Shaanxi, China

    Sheng-Ji Yan, Bo-Yong Li, De-Xin Gao, Shu-Yue Fu, Yun-Fei Lu, Miao-Ping Xu, Cheng-Jie Ren & Xin-Hui Han

  2. Research Center of Recycle Agricultural Engineering and Technology of Shaanxi Province, 712100, Yangling, Shaanxi, China

    De-Xin Gao, Shu-Yue Fu, Miao-Ping Xu, Cheng-Jie Ren & Xin-Hui Han

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  1. Sheng-Ji Yan
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Sheng-Ji Yan, Li, BY., Gao, DX. et al. Response of Ecoenzymatic Stoichiometry to Soil Physicochemical Properties after Afforestation on Loess Hilly Region. Eurasian Soil Sc. 53, 1669–1675 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229320110125

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