Soil Microbial Communities and Enzyme Activities after Long-Term Application of Inorganic and Organic Fertilizers at Different Depths of the Soil Profile

Abstract

Fertilization is a key factor for sustaining productivity in agroecosystems. A long-term experiment in cambisol following periodical application of several types of fertilization has been running at the experimental site since 1954. In this study, we determined the impact of applied inorganic and/or organic fertilizers on the activity of soil enzymes and on the structure of microorganisms at depths of 0–30 cm and 30–60 cm. Single-factor comparison showed that use of inorganic and/or organic fertilizer had an insignificant effect on the activities of soil enzymes (at depths 0–30 cm and 30–60 cm) and also on the structure of microbial communities at both depths studied. Only soil respirations exhibited stimulation by combined fertilization. The results, irrespective of sampling depth (0–60 cm), showed that application of combined organic and inorganic fertilization stimulated the activity of glucosidases and use of inorganic fertilizer inhibited the activity of arylsulphatases. Respirations were stimulated by application of organic fertilizer and combined fertilization. Nevertheless, principal component analyses, which calculate with multidimensional data, revealed differences in samples treated by sole mineral fertilizer compared to other variants, especially in the lower layer. In general, our results indicate that use of combined fertilization may improve biological characteristics in deeper parts of soil profile and possibly increase biological activity in agroecosystems.

The Status of Soil Microbiome as Affected by the Application of Phosphorus Biofertilizer: Fertilizer Enriched with Beneficial Bacterial Strains

“…Different fertilization methods, both organic and inorganic, are known to influence the activity and biodiversity of soil microorganisms. The introduction of various substances to the soil may change the composition of indigenous microbiota and modify processes taking place in the soil environment [35][36][37].…”

Short-Term Effects of Changing Soil Management Practices on Soil Quality Indicators and Crop Yields in Greenhouses

“…Tillage distributed carbon labile fractions and improved the conditions for enzyme activity in CRTMP, allowing higher mean values in all soil quality indicators in the 0-15 cm depth range, even from the first cropping season. The higher variability shown in mean values of the biochemical soil quality indicators in CRTMP may be due to changes in the soil's physicochemical properties, soil biota activity, soil composition, and the interaction between them [73,74]. The considerable increases in CRTMP in the labile fractions (POC and LF) serve as an important factor in providing energy to heterotrophic microbial organisms [75,76] and can function as a nucleation site for microbial activity [77], which justifies their significant correlations with soil quality indicators related to enzymatic activity (DH and GL).…”

Enhanced Carbon Sequestration in Marginal Land Upon Shift towards Perennial C4Miscanthus × giganteus: A Case Study in North-Western Czechia

“…Phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) analysis was performed to determine the soil microbial biomass and microbial community structure according to the ISO/TS 29843-2. PLFAs extraction from soil samples is described by Holík et al [29]. Briefly, soil was extracted by mixture of chlorophorm, methanol and phosphate buffer.…”

“…Due to the fact that the soil biological activity and biomass are most elevated and most representative globally at the top 0-10 cm layer and decrease with depth [29,32], and since the miscanthus roots were highly dense and intensified in this layer regarding other layers, it is noteworthy to mention that the soil biological parameters were only measured at 0-10 cm depth.…”