Abstract
Aims
Subalpine forest ecosystems are sensitive to climate change, and extracellular enzyme activities and microbial metabolic limitation in soils are influenced by multiple factors including climate. The study aims to reveal the extracellular enzyme characteristics and microbial metabolic limitation in soils and their key drivers along an elevation gradient in subalpine forest ecosystems.
Methods
Microbial metabolic limitations in bulk and rhizosphere soils under Quercus aquifolioides forest along an elevation gradient (3100-4180 m a.s.l) of Pamuling Mountain on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau were investigated by enzyme stoichiometry theory and path modelling analysis.
Results
Elevation had significant effects on the carbon (C)-, nitrogen (N)-, and phosphorus (P)-acquiring enzyme activities, but the difference between bulk and rhizosphere soil was non-significant. Microbial metabolism was mainly limited by C and P, and showed a tendency to gradual shift from C and P limitation to C and N limitation at high elevation. The C limitation of microbial metabolism showed an increasing trend with elevation, implying greater C limitation at higher elevations where temperatures were lower. Therefore, we infer that the increase in temperature may help to alleviate C limitation of microbial metabolism in subalpine forest. Soil available nutrients affected N and P limitations of microbial metabolism, and soil pH, nutrient ratios and available nutrients mainly affected C limitation.
Conclusions
There were significant influences of elevation on soil enzyme activities and C limitation of microbial metabolism. Soil pH, nutrient stoichiometric characteristics and available nutrients were the key factors affecting soil microbial metabolism in subalpine Q. aquifolioides forest ecosystems.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The datasets analyzed in the study can be obtained from the corresponding author under reasonable request.
References
Allison SD, Vitousek PM (2005) Responses of extracellular enzymes to simple and complex nutrient inputs. Soil Biol Biochem 37(5):937–944. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2004.09.014
Allison SD, Wallenstein MD, Bradford MA (2010) Soil-carbon response to warming dependent on microbial physiology. Nat Geosci 3(5):336–340. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo846
Bell C, Carrillo Y, Boot CM, Rocca JD, Pendall E, Wallenstein MD (2013) Rhizosphere stoichiometry: are C: N : P ratios of plants, soils, and enzymes conserved at the plant species-level? New Phytol 201(2):505–517. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.12531
Bing HJ, Wu YH, Zhou J, Sun HY, Luo J, Wang JP, Yu D (2015) Stoichiometric variation of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in soils and its implication for nutrient limitation in alpine ecosystem of Eastern Tibetan Plateau. J Soils Sediments 16(2):405–416. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-015-1200-9
Brzezińska M, Lipiec J, Frąc M, Oszust K, Szarlip P, Turski M (2018) Quantitative interactions between total and specific enzyme activities and C and N contents in earthworm-affected pear orchard soil. Land Degrad Dev 29(10):3379–3389. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.3100
Brzostek ER, Greco A, Drake JE, Finzi AC (2012) Root carbon inputs to the rhizosphere stimulate extracellular enzyme activity and increase nitrogen availability in temperate forest soils. Biogeochemistry 115(1–3):65–76. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-012-9818-9
Burns RG, DeForest JL, Marxsen J, Sinsabaugh RL, Stromberger ME, Wallenstein MD, Weintraub MN, Zoppini A (2013) Soil enzymes in a changing environment: Current knowledge and future directions. Soil Biol Biochem 58:216–234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2012.11.009
Cao R, Yang WQ, Chang CH, Wang Z, Wang Q, Li H, Tan B (2021) Differential seasonal changes in soil enzyme activity along an altitudinal gradient in an alpine-gorge region. Appl Soil Ecol 166:104078. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2021.104078
Chen J, Luo YQ, Li JW, Zhou XH, Cao JJ, Wang RW, Wang YQ, Shelton S, Jin Z, Walker LM, Feng ZZ, Niu SL, Feng WT, Jian SY, Zhou LY (2016) Costimulation of soil glycosidase activity and soil respiration by nitrogen addition. Glob Change Biol 23(3):1328–1337. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13402
Chen J, Elsgaard L, Groenigen KJV, Olesen JE, Liang Z, Jiang Y, Lærke PE, Zhang YF, Luo YQ, Hungate BA, Sinsabaugh RL, Jørgensen U (2020) Soil carbon loss with warming: New evidence from carbon-degrading enzymes. Glob Change Biol 26(4):1944–1952. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14986
Chen L, Xiang WH, Wu HL, Ouyang SA, Zhou B, Zeng YL, Chen YL, Kuzyakov Y (2019a) Tree species identity surpasses richness in affecting soil microbial richness and community composition in subtropical forests. Soil Biol Biochem 130:113–121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.12.008
Chen LC, Guan X, Li HM, Wang QK, Zhang WD, Yang QP, Wang SL (2019b) Spatiotemporal patterns of carbon storage in forest ecosystems in Hunan Province, China. For Ecol Manag 432:656–666. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2018.09.059
Cheng WX, Parton WJ, Gonzalez-Meler MA, Phillips R, Asao S, McNickle GG, Brzostek E, Jastrow JD (2013) Synthesis and modeling perspectives of rhizosphere priming. New Phytol 201(1):31–44. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.12440
Cleveland CC, Liptzin D (2007) C: N:P stoichiometry in soil: is there a “Redfield ratio” for the microbial biomass? Biogeochemistry 85:235–252. https://doi.org/10.2307/20456544
Cui YX, Bing HJ, Fang LC, Jiang M, Shen GT, Yu JL, Wang X, Zhu H, Wu YH, Zhang XC (2021) Extracellular enzyme stoichiometry reveals the carbon and phosphorus limitations of microbial metabolisms in the rhizosphere and bulk soils in alpine ecosystems. Plant Soil 458(1–2):7–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-019-04159-x
Datta R, Anand S, Moulick A, Baraniya D, Pathan SI, Rejsek K, Vranova V, Sharma M, Sharma D, Kelkar A, Formanek P (2017) How enzymes are adsorbed on soil solid phase and factors limiting its activity: a review. Int Agrophys 31:287–302. https://doi.org/10.1515/intag-2016-0049
Deng L, Peng CH, Huang CB, Wang HB, Liu QY, Liu YL, Hai XY, Shangguan ZP (2019) Drivers of soil microbial metabolic limitation changes along a vegetation restoration gradient on the Loess Plateau, China. Geoderma 353:188–200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2019.06.037
Dijkstra FA, Hobbie SE, Reich PB (2006) Soil processes affected by sixteen grassland species grown under different environmental conditions. Soil Sci Soc Am J 70(3):770–777. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2005.0088
Duan M, Li A, Wu YH, Zhao ZP, Peng CH, DeLuca TH, Sun SQ (2019) Differences of soil CO2 flux in two contrasting subalpine ecosystems on the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: A four-year study. Atmospheric Environ 198:166–174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2018.10.067
Feng J, Wei K, Chen ZH, Lü XT, Tian JH, Wang C, Chen LJ (2019) Coupling and decoupling of soil carbon and nutrient cycles across an aridity gradient in the drylands of northern China: evidence from ecoenzymatic stoichiometry. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 33:559–569. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018gb006112
Finzi AC, Abramoff RZ, Spiller KS, Brzostek ER, Darby BA, Kramer MA, Phillips RP (2015) Rhizosphere processes are quantitatively important components of terrestrial carbon and nutrient cycles. Glob Change Biol 21(5):2082–2094. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12816
Fujita K, Miyabara Y, Kunito T (2019) Microbial biomass and ecoenzymatic stoichiometries vary in response to nutrient availability in an arable soil. Eur J Soil Biol 91:1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejsobi.2018.12.005
Gan DY, Feng JG, Han M, Zeng H, Zhu B (2021) Rhizosphere effects of woody plants on soil biogeochemical processes: A meta-analysis. Soil Biol Biochem 160:108310. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108310
German DP, Weintraub MN, Grandy AS, Lauber CL, Rinkes ZL, Allison SD (2011) Optimization of hydrolytic and oxidative enzyme methods for ecosystem studies. Soil Biol Biochem 43(7):1387–1397. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2011.03.017
Gong ZT, Chen ZC, Zhang GL (2003) The World Resource Reference Base (WRB): establishment and development. Soils 35(4):271–278. https://doi.org/10.13758/j.cnki.tr.2003.04.002
Guerrero-Ramírez NR, Pizarro V, Turner BL (2020) Soil and microbial nutrient status are heterogeneous within an elevational belt on a neotropical mountain. Pedobiologia 83:150689. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedobi.2020.150689
He QQ, Wu YH, Bing HJ, Zhou J, Wang JP (2020) Vegetation type rather than climate modulates the variation in soil enzyme activities and stoichiometry in subalpine forests in the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Geoderma 374:114424. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2020.114424
Hedwall PO, Bergh J, Brunet J (2017) Phosphorus and nitrogen co-limitation of forest ground vegetation under elevated anthropogenic nitrogen deposition. Oecologia 185(2):317–326. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-017-3945-x
Jones DL, Cooledge EC, Hoyle FC, Griffiths RI, Murphy DV (2019) pH and exchangeable aluminum are major regulators of microbial energy flow and carbon use efficiency in soil microbial communities. Soil Biol Biochem 138:107584. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2019.107584
Kaspari M, Powers JS (2016) Biogeochemistry and geographical ecology: embracing all twenty-five elements required to build organisms. Am Nat 188(S1):S62–S73. https://doi.org/10.1086/687576
Kuzyakov Y, Xu XL (2013) Competition between roots and microorganisms for nitrogen: mechanisms and ecological relevance. New Phytol 198(3):656–669. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.12235
Lei TZ, Si GC, Wang J, Zhang GX (2017) Microbial communities and associated enzyme activities in alpine wetlands with increasing altitude on the Tibetan Plateau. Wetlands 37(3):401–412. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-017-0876-6
Li C, Zhang X, Liu X, Luukkanen O, Berninger F (2006) Leaf morphological and physiological responses of Quercus aquifolioides along an altitudinal gradient. Silva Fennica 40(1):5–13. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.348
Li QW, Liu Y, Gu YF, Guo L, Huang YY, Zhang J, Xu ZF, Tan B, Zhang L, Chen LH, Xiao JJ, Zhu P (2019) Ecoenzymatic stoichiometry and microbial nutrient limitations in rhizosphere soil along the Hailuogou Glacier forefield chronosequence. Sci Total Environ 704:135413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135413
Lindahl BD, Tunlid A (2014) Ectomycorrhizal fungi - potential organic matter decomposers, yet not saprotrophs. New Phytol 205(4):1443–1447. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.13201
Liu J, Liu M, Wu M, Jiang CY, Chen XF, Cai ZJ, Wang BR, Zhang J, Zhang TL, Li ZP (2018) Soil pH rather than nutrients drive changes in microbial community following long-term fertilization in acidic Ultisols of southern China. J Soil Sediment 18(5):1853–1864. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-018-1934-2
Liu WX, Tian R, Peng ZY, Yang S, Liu XX, Yang YS, Zhang WH, Liu LL (2020) Nonlinear responses of the Vmax and Km of hydrolytic and polyphenol oxidative enzymes to nitrogen enrichment. Soil Biol Biochem 141:107656. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2019.107656
Liu XC, Zhang ST (2019) Nitrogen addition shapes soil enzyme activity patterns by changing pH rather than the composition of the plant and microbial communities in an alpine meadow soil. Plant Soil 440(1–2):11–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-019-04054-5
Liu XL, Jia C, He F, Cai XH, Pan HL, Ma WB, Feng QH, Ji HJ (2015) Characteristics of plant family composition of Quercus aquifolioides community along an altitude gradient on the Balang Mountain. J Sichuan Forestry Sci Technol 36(2):1–9. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1003-5508.2015.02.001
Maaroufi NI, De Long JR (2020) Global change impacts on forest soils: linkage between soil biota and carbon-nitrogen-phosphorus stoichiometry. Front For Glob Change 3. https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2020.00016
Malik AA, Puissant J, Buckeridge KM, Goodall T, Jehmlich N, Chowdhury S, Gweon HS, Peyton JM, Mason KE, Agtmaal M, Blaud A, Clark IM, Whitaker J, Pywell RF, Ostle N, Gleixner G, Griffiths RI (2018) Land use driven change in soil pH affects microbial carbon cycling processes. Nat Commun 9(1):1–10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05980-1
Margida MG, Lashermes G, Moorhead DL (2019) Estimating relative cellulolytic and ligninolytic enzyme activities as functions of lignin and cellulose content in decomposing plant litter. Soil Biol Biochem 141:107689. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2019.107689
Marklein AR, Houlton BZ (2011) Nitrogen inputs accelerate phosphorus cycling rates across a wide variety of terrestrial ecosystems. New Phytol 193(3):696–704. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2011.03967.x
Marshall VG (2000) Impacts of forest harvesting on biological processes in northern forest soils. For Ecol Manag 133(1–2):43–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0378-1127(99)00297-2
Moorhead DL, Rinkes ZL, Sinsabaugh RL, Weintraub MN (2013) Dynamic relationships between microbial biomass, respiration, inorganic nutrients and enzyme activities: informing enzyme-based decomposition models. Front Microbiol 4(4):223. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2013.00223
Moorhead DL, Sinsabaugh RL, Hill BH, Weintraub MN (2016) Vector analysis of ecoenzyme activities reveal constraints on coupled C, N and P dynamics. Soil Biol Biochem 93:1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2015.10.019
Nannipieri P, Trasar-Cepeda C, Dick RP (2017) Soil enzyme activity: a brief history and biochemistry as a basis for appropriate interpretations and meta-analysis. Biol Fertil Soils 54(1):11–19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-017-1245-6
Nottingham AT, Turner BL, Whitaker J, Ostle NJ, McNamara NP, Bardgett RD, Salinas N, Meir P (2015) Soil microbial nutrient constraints along a tropical forest elevation gradient: a belowground test of a biogeochemical paradigm. Biogeosciences 12(20):6071–6083. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-6071-2015
Nottingham AT, Turner BL, Whitaker J, Ostle N, Bardgett RD, McNamara NP, Salinas N, Meir P (2016) Temperature sensitivity of soil enzymes along an elevation gradient in the Peruvian Andes. Biogeochemistry 127(2):217–230. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-015-0176-2
Phillips RP, Fahey TJ (2006) Tree species and mycorrhizal associations influence the magnitude of rhizosphere effects. Ecology 87(5):1302–1313. https://doi.org/10.1890/0012-9658(2006)87[1302:tsamai]2.0.co;2
Ramirez KS, Craine JM, Fierer N (2012) Consistent effects of nitrogen amendments on soil microbial communities and processes across biomes. Glob Change Biol 18(6):1918–1927. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02639.x
Shahzad T, Chenu C, Genet P, Barot S, perveen N, Mougin C, Fontaine S (2015) Contribution of exudates, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and litter depositions to the rhizosphere priming effect induced by grassland species. Soil Biol Biochem 80:146–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2014.09.023
Rosinger C, Rousk J, Sandén H (2019) Can enzymatic stoichiometry be used to determine growth-limiting nutrients for microorganisms? - a critical assessment in two subtropical soils. Soil Biol Biochem 128:115–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.10.011
Sanaullah M, Blagodatskaya E, Chabbi A, Rumpel C, Kuzyakov Y (2011) Drought effects on microbial biomass and enzyme activities in the rhizosphere of grasses depend on plant community composition. Appl Soil Ecol 48(1):38–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2011.02.004
Sierra CA (2011) Temperature sensitivity of organic matter decomposition in the Arrhenius equation: some theoretical considerations. Biogeochemistry 108(1–3):1–15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-011-9596-9
Sinsabaugh RL, Follstad Shah JJ (2010) Ecoenzymatic stoichiometry of recalcitrant organic matter decomposition: the growth rate hypothesis in reverse. Biogeochemistry 102(1–3):31–43. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-010-9482-x
Sinsabaugh RL, Lauber CL, Weintraub MN, Ahmed B, Allison SD, Crenshaw C, Contosta AR, Cusack D, Frey S, Gallo ME, Gartner TB, Hobbie SE, Holland K, Keeler BL, Powers JS, Stursova M, Takacs-Vesbach C, Waldrop MP, Wallenstein MD, Zak DR, Zeglin LH (2008) Stoichiometry of soil enzyme activity at global scale. Ecol Lett 11(11):1252–1264. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01245.x
Sinsabaugh RL, Hill BH, Follstad Shah JJ (2009) Ecoenzymatic stoichiometry of microbial organic nutrient acquisition in soil and sediment. Nature 462(7274):795–798. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08632
Sistla SA, Asao S, Schimel JP (2012) Detecting microbial N-limitation in tussock tundra soil: Implications for Arctic soil organic carbon cycling. Soil Biol Biochem 55:78–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2012.06.010
Stark S, Männistö MK, Eskelinen A (2014) Nutrient availability and pH jointly constrain microbial extracellular enzyme activities in nutrient-poor tundra soils. Plant Soil 383(1–2):373–385. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2181-y
Stock SC, Köster M, Dippold MA, Nájera F, Matus F, Merino C, Boy J, Spielvogel S, Gorbushina A, Kuzyakov Y (2019) Environmental drivers and stoichiometric constraints on enzyme activities in soils from rhizosphere to continental scale. Geoderma 337:973–982. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2018.10.030
Stuart EK, Plett KL (2020) Digging deeper: in search of the mechanisms of carbon and nitrogen exchange in ectomycorrhizal symbioses. Front Plant Sci 10:1658. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2019.01658
Toberman H, Chen CR, Xu ZH (2011) Rhizosphere effects on soil nutrient dynamics and microbial activity in an Australian tropical lowland rainforest. Soil Res 49(7):652–660. https://doi.org/10.1071/sr11202
Turner BL (2010) Variation in pH optima of hydrolytic enzyme activities in tropical rain forest soils. Appl Environ Microbiol 76(19):6485–6493. https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.00560-10
Vittori Antisari L, Papp R, Vianello G, Marinari S (2018) Effects of Douglas fir stand age on soil chemical properties, nutrient dynamics, and enzyme activity: a case study in Northern Apennines, Italy. Forests 9(10):641. https://doi.org/10.3390/f9100641
Wang JA, Zuo W (2010) Geographic atlas of China. China Cartographic Publishing House, Beijing
Waring BG, Weintraub SR, Sinsabaugh RL (2014) Ecoenzymatic stoichiometry of microbial nutrient acquisition in tropical soils. Biogeochemistry 117(1):101–113. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-013-9849-x
Wieder WR, Bonan GB, Allison SD (2013) Global soil carbon projections are improved by modelling microbial processes. Nat Clim Change 3(10):909–912. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1951
Xu Y, Zhang K, Dou L, Yang N, Wang B, Ran JH (2021) Landscape-scale habitat selection by Buff-throated Partridges Tetraophasis szechenyii during the breeding season. Acta Ecol Sin 41(8):3248–3254. https://doi.org/10.5846/stxb201902230336
Xu ZW, Yu GR, Zhang XY, He NP, Wang QF, Wang SZ, Wang RL, Zhao N, Jia YL, Wang CY (2017) Soil enzyme activity and stoichiometry in forest ecosystems along the North-South Transect in eastern China (NSTEC). Soil Biol Biochem 104:152–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2016.10.020
Yang Y, Liang C, Wang YQ, Cheng H, An S, Chang SX (2020) Soil extracellular enzyme stoichiometry reflects the shift from P- to N-limitation of microorganisms with grassland restoration. Soil Biol Biochem 149:107928. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2020.107928
You HZ, Liu XL, Miao N, He F, Ma QY (2010) Individual association and scale effect of spatial pattern of Quercus aquifolioides along the elevation gradients. Acta Ecol Sin 30(15):4004–4011
Zechmeister-Boltenstern S, Keiblinger KM, Mooshammer M, Peñuelas J, Richter A, Sardans J, Wanek W (2015) The application of ecological stoichiometry to plant-microbial-soil organic matter transformations. Ecol Monogr 85:133–155. https://doi.org/10.1890/14-0777.1
Zhang S, Chen DD, Sun DS, Wang XT, Smith JL, Du GZ (2012) Impacts of altitude and position on the rates of soil nitrogen mineralization and nitrification in alpine meadows on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China. Biol Fertil Soils 48(4):393–400. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-011-0634-5
Zhou LH, Liu SS, Shen HH, Zhao MY, Xu LC, Xing AJ, Fang JY (2020) Soil extracellular enzyme activity and stoichiometry in China’s forests. Funct Ecol 34:1461–1471. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13555
Zhou ZH, Wang CK (2015) Reviews and syntheses: Soil resources and climate jointly drive variations in microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen in China’s forest ecosystems. Biogeosciences 12(22):6751–6760. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-6751-2015
Zhu ZK, Ge TD, Luo Y, Liu SL, Xu XL, Tong CL, Shibistova O, Guggenberger G, Wu JS (2018) Microbial stoichiometric flexibility regulates rice straw mineralization and its priming effect in paddy soil. Soil Biol Biochem 121:67–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.03.003
Acknowledgements
The work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds of Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAFYBB2018ZA003, CAFYBB2021ZA002-2) and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0502104-02). We thank Xingliang Liu and Qiuhong Feng of Sichuan Academy of Forestry, Ning Miao of Sichuan University, and Qianli Liu of Aba Autonomous Prefecture Institute of Forestry for their field assistance. We thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions.
Funding
The study was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds of Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAFYBB2018ZA003, CAFYBB2021ZA002-2) and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0502104-02).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All of the authors contributed to our research. The experiments were designed by Zuomin Shi and Xiangwen Cao. Material preparation and experimental operation were performed by Xiangwen Cao, Jian Chen, Shun Liu, Miaomiao Zhang, Mao Chen, Gexi Xu, Jiamei Wu, Hongshuang Xing, and Feifan Li. Data mining and analysis were performed by Zuomin Shi and Xiangwen Cao. The first draft was written by Xiangwen Cao. The draft was reviewed and edited by Zuomin Shi. All authors commented and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing Interests
The authors declare that we have no financial or other non-financial interests that could influence the reported in this paper.
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Tim S. George.
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cao, X., Shi, Z., Chen, J. et al. Extracellular enzyme characteristics and microbial metabolic limitation in soil of subalpine forest ecosystems on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Plant Soil 479, 337–353 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05521-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05521-2