Age and Species of Eucalyptus Plantations Affect Soil Microbial Biomass and Enzymatic Activities

Abstract

Soil microorganisms and extracellular enzymes play important roles in soil nutrient cycling. Currently, China has the second-largest area of eucalyptus plantations in the world. Information on the effects of eucalyptus age and species of trees on soil microbial biomass and enzyme activities, however, is limited. In this paper, the soil microbial biomass and enzyme activities were studied in eucalyptus plantations with different ages (1 and 5+ years) and species of trees (E. urophylla×E. grandis, E. camaldulens and E. pellita) in South China. The results showed that both plantation age and eucalyptus species could affect the total microbial biomass and fungal biomass, whereas the bacterial biomass was affected only by plantation age. The fungal biomass and the fungi-to-bacteria ratio significantly increased along with increasing plantation age. Similarly, the plantation age and eucalyptus species significantly affected the enzyme activities associated with carbon cycling (β-xylosidase, β-d-glucuronidase, β-cellobiosidase and β-glucosidase). The activities of β-d-glucuronidase and β-glucosidase were significantly higher in the E. camaldulens plantation. The enzymes involved in nitrogen (N-acetyl-glucosamidase) and sulfur (sulfatase) cycling were only affected by the eucalyptus plantation age and species, respectively. The results highlight the importance of the age and species of eucalyptus plantations on soil microbial activities.

Responses of Soil Microbial Biomass and Enzyme Activities to Natural Restoration of Reclaimed Temperate Marshes After Abandonment

“…Soil microorganisms play a great role in the biogeochemical process of wetlands (Sousa et al, 2015) and can provide nutrients for the development and function of soil and plants (Li et al, 2015;Xu et al, 2020). Soil microbial properties such as microbial biomass and enzyme activities are essential components of wetlands (Xiao et al, 2015).…”

“…Soil microbial properties can be affected by soil properties such as soil C and N content, pH, moisture content, bulk density, and nutrients (Kotroczó et al, 2014;Baddam et al, 2016;Wang et al, 2019). They can also be affected by plant properties such as plant biomass, species composition, and age (Yuan and Yue, 2012;Xu et al, 2020). Moreover, soil microbial properties can also be influenced by land use/cover change (Raiesi and Beheshti, 2014;Feng et al, 2019).…”

Soil Fungal Community Structure and Function Shift during a Disease-Driven Forest Succession

“…NAG is involved in the decomposition of chitin and fungal mycelium ( 39 ), and sulfatase is involved in the hydrolyzation of sulfate esters ( 40 ). Previous studies have indicated that the activities of both enzymes were correlated positively with soil microbial biomass ( 38 , 41 ). The NAG and sulfatase activities being significantly higher in the PLF may result from the increased fungal biomass, which can also explain the significantly increased fungal α-diversity and richness in the PLF site.…”

“…The variation in tree species in the three forest types could be the key contributor to the observation. The physiochemical properties of soil (e.g., soil pH and nutrient availability) can be altered by tree species ( 41 ), which are important regulators affecting soil microbial communities ( 10 , 11 ). Soil pH and soil C and N content also significantly differed among the three forests during the succession in our study (see Table S1 in the supplemental material).…”

Recent Advances in Applied Microbiology: Editorial

“…Within the scope of agricultural microbiology, Xu et al [ 15 ] evaluated the effects of eucalyptus age and species on the soil microbial biomass and enzyme activities. In addition, two studies, performed by the same group, intended to explore the diversity and characteristics of rumen bacterial community [ 16 ], the digestive ability and physiological characteristics of finishing cattle after dietary changes [ 17 ].…”