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Quantitative interactions between total and specific enzyme activities and C and N contents in earthworm‐affected pear orchard soil
Author(s) -
Brzezińska Małgorzata,
Lipiec Jerzy,
Frąc Magdalena,
Oszust Karolina,
Szarlip Paweł,
Turski Marcin
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
land degradation and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.403
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1099-145X
pISSN - 1085-3278
DOI - 10.1002/ldr.3100
Subject(s) - chemistry , respiration , orchard , earthworm , enzyme assay , zoology , soil carbon , food science , horticulture , enzyme , biochemistry , botany , soil water , biology , agronomy , ecology
The current study describes quantitatively the interactions between (a) activity of extracellular enzymes: β‐glucosidase (BG), protease (Prot), alkaline phosphatase (Alk P), and acid phosphatase (Acid P); (b) intracellular activities: respiration, dehydrogenase activity (DHA); and (c) C and N contents of soil: C org —organic carbon, C mic —microbial biomass, ratio C mic :C org , N tot —total nitrogen, and ratio C:N in earthworm‐affected and surrounding loess soil under a pear orchard. The soil tested was collected from: burrow walls (0–3 mm) and a transition zone (3–7 mm) both forming drilosphere, bulk soil (20 mm from the burrow wall), and cast aggregates. The enzyme activities were presented as total ‘tot’ (per gram of dry soil mass) and specific ‘spec’ (per C mic ). It was shown that soil C mic , basal respiration, BG tot , Prot tot , and Alk P tot were significantly positively correlated with C org , C mic :C org , N tot , and C:N ( r = 0.627–0.976). However, the specific BG spec , Prot spec , and Acid P spec were negatively correlated, while specific respiration (qCO 2 ) and Alk P spec were not correlated with most soil characteristics. The relationships between DHA tot , DHA spec , and all soil characteristics were positive and had the highest correlation coefficients ( r = 0.703–0.989). Response ratio of the enzyme activity was more strongly affected by enzyme activity location (extracellular vs. intracellular) and presentation method (total vs. specific), than by earthworm‐affected soil compartments. The results suggest a need to consider the method of enzyme activity presentation (specific vs. total) that supports understanding ecologically relevant microbial processes in earthworm‐inhabited orchard soils.