Long‐term Land Use Influences Soil Microbial Biomass P and S, Phosphatase and Arylsulfatase Activities, and S Mineralization in a Brazilian Oxisol

Abstract

Land use choices differentially affect soil physical and biological properties. Tillage choices in particular affect soil erosion, the retention of soil organic matter, and the biological activity that organic matter supports. The present study evaluated the consequences of different cropping and tillage systems (undisturbed forest, coffee plantation, conventional, and no-tillage row cropping) for soil microbial indicators and sulfur mineralization after 24 years of cropping on an Oxisol (Typic Haplorthox) in an experimental area at Londrina, Brazil. Soil samples were taken at 0-5, 5-10, and 10-20 cm depths and evaluated for microbial biomass P and S, S mineralization, and phosphatase and arylsulfatase activities. Land use affected microbial biomass P and S, and enzyme activity at all depths studied. The cultivated sites had lower values of microbial activity than the undisturbed forested site. Although the coffee site was not tilled and had high organic carbon content, there was low microbial activity, probably due to higher soil acidity and Al content. The estimates of pool stock for microbial P and annual P flux through the soil microbial biomass suggest that these pools are large enough to significantly affect plant nutrient availability. The greater microbial biomass and activity under forested and no-tillage sites may be attributed, at least partially, to higher organic matter content. The soil microbial variables examined proved to be strong indicators of soil sustainability.

Microbial Characteristics of Soils Under an Integrated Crop-Livestock System

“…Thus, greater enzymatic activity is typically related to higher organic C concentrations, which reflect the higher availability of substrates upon which enzymes can act. The observed arylsuphatase activities were similar to those reported by Balota et al (2014) for a Latossolo Vermelho distrófico (Oxisol), with concentrations ranging from 2, 3, and 15 µg PNP g -1 h -1 for clayey soils.…”

“…The acid phosphatase activities were considerably lower than previous reports (Cervantes, 2012;Balota et al, 2014), and ranged from 275.34 to 293.01 µg PNP g -1 h -1 following the pasture cycle and from 109.22 to 149.14 µg PNP g -1 h -1 following the soybean cycle. These results may be related to the application of P 2 O 5 because acid phosphatase is produced when soluble P concentrations reach levels that limit the growth of plants and soil microorganisms (Trannin et al, 2007).…”

“…However, although biomass is a measure of the living soil population and, consequently, a very dynamic soil characteristic, it provides little information when examined alone (Moreira and Siqueira, 2006). Soil enzymes also play a fundamental role in chemical reactions, acting as catalysts of several reactions, including those involved in the decomposition of organic wastes, nutrient cycling, the formation of organic matter, and the formation of soil structure; and the analysis of enzyme activities allows for the assessment of aspects of soil microbiology components and contribute to studies of the effects of various soil management practices (Balota et al, 2014).…”

Effects of soil management techniques on soil water erosion in apricot orchards

“…Tillage has been seen as a major cause of soil erosion since agriculture was developed (Brevik and Hartemink, 2010), both in terms of water erosion (Novara et al, 2011;Casalí et al, 2015) as well as wind erosion (Gao et al, 2015). Tillage is also seen as a key factor for agricultural production as it modifies soil properties such as organic carbon (Hassan et al, 2014;Parras-Alcántara and Lozano-García, 2014;), the habitat for biota (Balota et al, 2014;Costantini et al, 2015) and chemical properties (Laudicina et al, 2015;Zornoza et al, 2015). Tillage is usually seen as the primary cause of soil erosion in rainfed agriculture (Lieskovský and Kenderessy, 2014), and the cause of the acceleration of sediment fluxes on all the continents (Dupin et al, 2009;Van Oost et al, 2009;Zhang et al, 2009).…”

Kinetics of potassium release in sweet potato cropped soils: a case study in the highlands of Papua New Guinea

“…New land uses trigger soil erosion and degradation processes during and after land abandonment (Cerda et al, 2010). Besides affecting physical properties, longterm intensive land use can affect biochemical and microbial properties of the soil (Balota et al, 2014). Land-degradation processes are dominant in surface soil that is exposed due to clearing of vegetation and thus stores less soil moisture (Garcia-Orenes et al, 2009).…”