Rhizosphere soil enzymatic and microbial activities in bamboo forests in southeastern China

Abstract

Bamboo has been introduced to coastal sandy areas in southeastern China to protect and restore coastal ecosystems. An understanding of the chemistries and enzymatic and microbial activities in the soils of these bamboo forests will aid our understanding of how bamboo plantations can improve soil fertility and will provide scientific evidence for policy makers for encouraging the planting of bamboo in other coastal areas. We investigated the physical and chemical properties of the rhizosphere soil [soil moisture content (SMC), pH, and contents of soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (TN), available nitrogen (AN), total phosphorus (TP), available phosphorus (AP), total potassium (TK) and available potassium (AK)], enzymatic activities (sucrase, protease, urease and catalase) and microbial properties (counts of bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes) in five bamboo forests. The bamboo forests had significantly higher levels of SOM, TN, AN, TP, AP, TK, and AK and lower pH relative to a control soil sample from an area devoid of plants. Soil enzymatic activities and microbial communities were considerably higher in the bamboo forests than in the soil from the barren land. The chemical contents, enzymatic activities and microbial counts of the soil and the litter and root biomasses were higher in forests with the bamboo species Dendrocalamopsis oldhami and Pseudosasa amabilis than in forests with the other three species (Acidosasa edulis, Dendrocalamopsis vario-striata, and Dendrocalamopsis beecheyana var. pubescens), which suggests that these two species could adapt to sandy soil and grow well in a hostile environment. These results indicate that planting bamboo may help to both enrich soil fertility and increase the diversity of tree species in coastal ecosystems. The difference between aboveground and belowground biomass may have been responsible for these changes in soil properties.

Rhizosphere Effects of Melocanna baccifera on Soil Microbial Properties under Different Fallow Phases Following Shifting Cultivation

“…A similar trend was marked in enzyme activities like APA and GSA except in DHA. The results in present studies are in consistent with those of earlier studies [7,33,34]. These results suggest that the rhizosphere microbes are more dynamic and active than those in the BS.…”

Effects of plastic mulch and nitrogen fertilizer on the soil microbial community, enzymatic activity and yield performance in a dryland maize cropping system

“…In short, soil microbial community and enzyme activities are important for sustainable agriculture and the material cycle and energy conversion of the soil ecosystem (Finn, Kopittke, Dennis, & Dalal, 2017). The activities of catalase, urease and sucrase are useful biological soil quality indicators, as they have significant effects on soil nutrient turnover (Adetunji et al, 2017; Z. Tu, Chen, Yu, & Zheng, 2014). The enzymatic activities were observed to be higher in response to the application of higher amounts of N fertilizer in the form of organic fertilizer than those observed in response to smaller amounts of N (X. Wang et al, 2019).…”

“…In short, soil microbial community and enzyme activities are important for sustainable agriculture and the material cycle and energy conversion of the soil ecosystem (Finn, Kopittke, Dennis, & Dalal, 2017). The activities of catalase, urease and sucrase are useful biological soil quality indicators, as they have significant effects on soil nutrient turnover (Adetunji et al, 2017;Z. Tu, Chen, Yu, & Zheng, 2014).…”

Diversity and structural characteristics of soil microbial communities in different habitats of wild Lilium regale Wilson in Wenchuan area

“…Total nitrogen (TN) was determined based on Kjeldahl method [ 18 ]. Total potassium (TK) and available potassium (AK) were measured by flame photometer [ 19 ]. Total phosphorus (TP) and available phosphorus (AP) were respectively determined using molybdenum antimony anti colorimetry and spectrophotometry [ 20 ].…”