Soil metabolic profile as influenced by seasonal and topographical variations in tropical dry deciduous forest: A biolog based approach

Abstract

The soil microbial communities and factors therein play important role in maintaining nutrient turnover in forest ecosystem. A biolog ecoplate based approach was applied to a dry deciduous tropical forest to investigate metabolic profile of soil microbial communities in relation to topography and seasonality. Significant (p < 0.05) effect of seasonality on metabolic profile was observed. The average well color development (AWCD), rate of change (r) and metabolic diversity indices (functional diversity indices) were recorded maximum in rainy season followed by winter and summer indicating maximum microbial activity in rainy season. Principal component analysis revealed seasonality to be the major determinant of soil metabolic profile, a key aspect of ecosystem functioning.