The influence of different types of urban land use on soil microbial biomass and functional diversity in Beijing, China

Abstract

Soil microbes in urban ecosystems are affected by a variety of abiotic and biotic factors resulting from changes in land use. However, the influence of different types of land use on soil microbial properties and soil quality in urban areas remains largely unknown. Here, by comparing five types of land use: natural forest, park, agriculture, street green and roadside trees, we examined the effects of different land uses on soil microbial biomass and microbial functional diversity in Beijing, China. We found that soil properties varied with land uses in urban environments. Compared to natural forest, soil nutrients under the other four types of urban land use were markedly depleted, and accumulation of Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd was apparent. Importantly, under these four types of land use, there was less microbial biomass, but it had greater functional diversity, particularly in the roadside-tree soils. Furthermore, there were significant correlations between the microbial characteristics and physicochemical properties, such as organic matter, total nitrogen and total phosphorus (P < 0.05), suggesting that lack of nutrients was the major reason for the decrease in microbial biomass. In addition, the larger C/N ratio, Ni concentration and pool of organic matter together with a higher pH contributed to the increase in microbial functional diversity in urban soils. We concluded that different land uses have indirect effects on soil microbial biomass and microbial community functional diversity through their influence on soil physicochemical properties, especially nutrient availability and heavy metal content.

Identification of sensitive indicators to assess the interrelationship between soil quality, management practices and human health

“…Moreover, enzyme activity was sensitive to human-induced alterations in a land use sequence from natural forest pastures and shrublands (Tischer et al, 2014). Zhao et al (2013) evaluated natural forest, park, agriculture, street garden and roadside tree land uses using MBC and microbial functional diversity as indicators. In comparison to forest, MBC was lower for the rest of land uses but functional diversity was higher in the roadside-tree soils.…”

Spatial heterogeneity of urban soils: the case of the Beijing metropolitan region, China

“…Second, atmospheric deposition from vehicles and high accumulation of dust from nearby sealed surfaces result in increased nutrient content in roadsides (Chon et al 1998;Park et al 2010;Li et al 2013). Third, street litter and animal waste in roadsides may also lead to SOC accumulation (Park et al 2010;Zhao et al 2013). Similar to SOC, the highest C/N is found in roadsides followed by industrial areas.…”

“…It is widely agreed that the difference in human activities contribute to the variation of soil properties among landuse types (Pouyat et al 2007;Davies and Hall 2010). For example, soils in transportation and residential areas were characterized by higher pH and bulk density (BD) (Pouyat et al 2007;Zhao et al 2013;Yang et al 2014). Soils in urban forests (Zhao et al 2013) or protected places (Yang et al 2014) contained higher soil organic carbon (SOC), while soils at industrial sites and in transportation areas were often polluted by heavy metals (Lu and Bai 2010;Hamzeh et al 2011).…”

“…For example, soils in transportation and residential areas were characterized by higher pH and bulk density (BD) (Pouyat et al 2007;Zhao et al 2013;Yang et al 2014). Soils in urban forests (Zhao et al 2013) or protected places (Yang et al 2014) contained higher soil organic carbon (SOC), while soils at industrial sites and in transportation areas were often polluted by heavy metals (Lu and Bai 2010;Hamzeh et al 2011). At finer scales, urban soil carbon and nitrogen also varied within single patches, although this variation was smaller than that at broader scales and different land uses (Jenerette et al 2006).…”

Soil microbial biomass and gas-production activity (CO2) in Chernozems of different land use

“…(Stakhurlova et al, 2007;Blagodatskii et al, 2008;Polyanskaya et al, 2010). However, comparative analysis of soil gradient from natural to anthropogenic-transformed ecosystems (arable and urban) are still lacking (Chen et al, 2001;Vasenev et al 2012;Zhao et al, 2013). Moreover, changes in the biological properties of the single soil type (typical chernozems) under different ecosystems, taking into account their spatial variability and spatially discrete distribution, are still poorly understood.…”