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Medium‐ and short‐term available organic matter, microbial biomass, and enzyme activities in soils under Pinus sylvestris L. and Robinia pseudoacacia L. in a sandy soil in NE Saxony, Germany
Author(s) -
Landgraf Dirk,
Wedig Sven,
Klose Susanne
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of plant nutrition and soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1522-2624
pISSN - 1436-8730
DOI - 10.1002/jpln.200421384
Subject(s) - robinia , chemistry , soil water , organic matter , biomass (ecology) , soil organic matter , environmental chemistry , botany , agronomy , environmental science , soil science , biology , organic chemistry
Total, mobile, and easily available C and N fractions, microbial biomass, and enzyme activities in a sandy soil under pine ( Pinus sylvestris L.) and black locust ( Robinia pseudoacacia L.) stands were investigated in a field study near Riesa, NE Germany. Samples of the organic layers (Oi and Oe‐Oa) and the mineral soil (0–5, 5–10, 10–20, and 10–30 cm) were taken in fall 1999 and analyzed for their contents of organic C and total N, hot‐water‐extractable organic C and N (HWC and HWN), KCl‐extractable organic C and N (C org(KCl) and N org(KCl) ), NH $ _4^+ $ ‐N and NO $ _3^- $ ‐N, microbial‐biomass C and N, and activities of β‐glucosidase and L‐asparaginase. With exception of the HWC, all investigated C and N pools showed a clear response to tilling, which was most pronounced in the Oi horizon. Compared to soils under pine, those under black locust had higher contents of medium‐ and short‐term available C (HWC, C org(KCl) ) and N (HWN, N org(KCl) ), mineral N (NH $ _4^+ $ ‐N, NO $ _3^- $ ‐N), microbial‐biomass C and N, and enzyme activities in the uppermost horizons of the soil. The strong depth gradient found for all studied parameters was most pronounced in soils under black locust. Microbial‐biomass C and N and enzyme activities were closely related to the amounts of readily mineralizable organic C (HWC and C org(KCl) ). However, the presented results implicate a faster C and N turnover in the top‐soil layers under black locust caused by higher N‐input rates by symbiotic N 2 fixation.