Air-drying and long-term storage effects on β-glucosidase, acid phosphatase and arylsulfatase activities in a tropical Savannah Oxisol (original) (raw)
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Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 2006
Soil enzyme activities are useful indicators of soil quality as they are very sensitive to disturbance. Sample storage or pre-treatments could affect the results in these assays, which are normally determined in fresh samples, kept cold or frozen. The objectives of this study were to (i) evaluate the effect of air-drying or air-drying and rewetting on b-glucosidase, acid phosphatase and urease activities in soils from different locations, degradation status and sampling seasons, and (ii) assess if air-drying or air-drying and rewetting is an accurate sample storage and pre-treatment procedure for enzyme activities in soil quality evaluations under semiarid Mediterranean conditions. Our results showed that urease, phosphatase and b-glucosidase activities were hardly affected by air-drying of degraded and nondegraded soils from the two locations studied in all seasons. Short incubations (4, 8 and 12 d at 23 1C) of rewetted air-dried soil at 55% of water-holding capacity showed different patterns depending on the enzyme studied. Urease and b-glucosidase activities were relatively stable during incubation, with several significant (Po0.05) shifts up and down in some soils and samplings. However, acid phosphatase showed an increase in activity with incubation, of between 5% and 50% relative to air-dried samples. These increases followed no pattern and were unrelated to soil characteristics or sampling date. Hence, urease, phosphatase and b-glucosidase activities determined in airdried soil samples seem to be representative of those obtained under field-moist conditions. In contrast, short incubations of rewetted soil samples can produce fluctuations in these enzyme activities, mainly of acid phosphatase, and estimations in these conditions are not so representative of field-moist soil values. r
Air-drying pretreatment effect on soil enzymatic activity
Plant, Soil and Environment, 2017
Air-drying of soil samples is a common practice for all-purpose soil testing. However, it may cause the cessation of microbial activity changing the biochemical attributes. For this reason, field-moist samples are commonly used in the assessment of the enzyme activity in soils. This practice may, therefore, discourage the use of enzymes in soil quality evaluations. This study evaluated the effects of air-drying on cellulase, arylsulfatase and acid phosphatase activities in soil; the hypothesis was that the activities of these enzymes determined in air-dried soil samples are similar to those obtained at field-moist samples. Soil samples were collected (0–10 cm) in a long-term experiment that received two rates (10 and 20 t/ha) of sewage sludge and mineral fertilizer and was cropped with maize. Collected soil samples were split into two groups. In the first one, the enzymes were determined at field-moist samples, while in the second one, the samples were air-dried before enzymatic ana...
Brazilian Journal of Microbiology, 2021
Enzyme activities (EAs) and the FERTBIO sample concept have been increasingly adopted as a novel approach to estimate the soil quality in Brazil. However, the performance of this strategy in sandy soils of the Cerrado biome remains unclear. During 2 years, in a Cerrado's sandy soil, the short-term effects of ten different cropping systems (conventional tillage or no-tillage associated with monoculture, rotations, and/or successions) on the activities of β-glucosidase, acid phosphatase, and arylsulfatase were studied. Issues related to annual variability and the feasibility of using the FERTBIO sample concept for soil enzymes activities were also evaluated. Soil samples were collected at three different depths (0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, and 20-40 cm) in March 2017 and February 2018. Five years since the beginning of the experiment, the presence of cover crops and no-till promoted improvements in EAs evidencing the importance of regenerative management practices for the sustainability of agroecosystems in sandy soils. Regardless of the cropping systems and depths evaluated, soil organic carbon and EAs showed low temporal variation during the 2 years of monitoring. Our results also showed that it is possible to use the FERTBIO sample concept for the Quartzipsament soils of Western Bahia, Brazil.
Effect of air-drying treatment on enzymatic activities of soils affected by anthropogenic activities
Biology and Fertility of Soils, 2003
The influence of air-drying on dehydrogenase, invertase, b-glucosidase, urease, phosphatase, arylsulphatase and phenoloxidase activities was measured in three soils affected by anthropogenic activities and in control soils sampled from neighbouring areas. The airdrying changed enzyme activity, but the behaviour was neither site-specific nor enzyme-sensitive. Canonical discriminant analysis of enzymatic activities of both moist fresh and air-dried samples was able to discriminate between altered and unaltered soils irrespective of the site. Numerical alteration indices were developed as a linear function of the seven enzyme activities and the one obtained from fresh sample data was more successful. Air-drying apparently alters in unpredictable ways enzyme activities of soils, which could lead to misinterpretation of results.
Microbial biomass and enzyme activity of a Cerrado Oxisol under agroecological production system
Bragantia, 2011
Aiming to evaluate the effects of soil management and cover crops on microbial indicators of soil quality, an experiment was carried out under field conditions in which common bean and corn were cropped under no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) after sunnhemp, velvet bean, pigeon pea, jack bean, sorghum and fallow (weeds). The basal soil respiration (BSR), C and N of the microbial biomass (C mic and N mic ), metabolic quotient (qCO 2 ), total enzymatic activity (TEA), β-glycosidase (β-GA) activity and acid phosphatase activity (APA) were evaluated in samples collected in 0-0.10 m depth. C mic , qCO 2 , TEA, β-GA and APA were more sensitive in determining the effects caused by tillage and cover crops. Although the cover crops had not provided a remarkably influence on the studied indicators, in general, the highest values of C mic , N mic , BSR, TEA, β-GA and APA and the lowest values of qCO 2 were observed under NT compared to CT. C mic and TEA values were 35% and 13% higher under NT when compared to CT, respectively. In addition, NT showed values closer to those found under "Cerrado" area for the studied parameters, indicating a greater sustainability under this soil management system compared to CT management.
Enzyme activities as affected by soil properties and land use in a tropical watershed
Applied Soil Ecology, 2007
Enzyme activities play key roles in the biochemical functioning of soils, including soil organic matter formation and degradation, nutrient cycling, and decomposition of xenobiotics. Knowledge of enzyme activities can be used to describe changes in soil quality due to land use management and for understanding soil ecosystem functioning. In this study, we report the activities of the glycosidases (b-glucosidase, a-galactosidase, and b-glucosaminidase), acid phosphatase, and arylsulfatase, involved in C (C and N for b-glucosaminidase), P, and S cycling, respectively, as affected by soil order and land use within a watershed in northcentral Puerto Rico (Caribbean). Representative surface soil (0-15 cm) samples were taken from 84.6% of the total land area (45,067 ha) of the watershed using a completely randomized design. The activity of a-galactosidase was greater in soils classified as Oxisols than in soils classified as Ultisols and Inceptisols, and it was not affected by land use. The activity of b-glucosidase was greater in Oxisols compared to the Inceptisols and Ultisols, and it showed this response according to land use: pasture -> forest > agriculture. The activity of b-glucosaminidase was higher in Oxisols than the other soil orders, and it was higher under pasture compared to forest and agriculture. Acid phosphatase and arylsulfatase activities were greater in Oxisols and Ultisols than in Inceptisols, and they decreased in this order due to land use: forest = pasture > agriculture. As a group, b-glucosaminidase, b-glucosidase, and acid phosphatase activities separated the sites under forest and pasture from those under agriculture in a threedimensional plot. Thus, enzyme activities in Inceptisols under agriculture could be increased to levels comparable to other soil orders with conservative practices similar to those under pasture and secondary forest growth. Our findings demonstrate that within this watershed, acid and low fertility soils such as Oxisols and Ultisols have in general higher enzyme activities than less weathered tropical soils of the order Inceptisols, probably due to their higher organic matter content and finer texture; and that the activities of these enzymes respond to management with agricultural practices decreasing key soil biochemical reactions of soil functioning. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 1986
The microbial biomass C in 20 grassland soils from New Zealand was estimated using the CHCl, fumigation method and from the rate of respiration using a modified substrate-induced respiration technique (SIR). Estimates were made before and after air-drying. The ATP contents and the activities of the enzymes phospho-monoesterase and phospho-diesterase of moist and air-dried soils were also measured. The fumigation method gave erratic results on dried soils and poor agreement with biomass C estimated by the SIR method. The SIR biomass C, ATP content, phospho-monoesterase and phosphodiesterase activities all declined after air-drying, the average decrease being by 39, 68, 38 and 29%, respectively.
Arid Agroecosystem Shrubs Enhance Enzyme Activities during the Dry Season
American Journal of Plant Sciences, 2020
In Senegal, in the Sahel region, the agroecosystem is dominated by two Sahelian shrubs able to redistribute water from deep soil to the surface. This study was carried out to determine the impact of these shrubs on soil microbial activity. A 2 × 3 factorial design was set up during the dry and wet season with three soil treatments: rhizospheric, bulk and non-rhizospheric soil. During the dry season, the presence of shrubs resulted in significantly higher phosphatase acid activity for Guiera senegalensis (p < 0.001), respectively, 717 µg pNP/h/g of dry soil in the rhizosphere soil, 333 µg pNP/h/g in the bulk soil and 193 µg pNP/h/g in the non-rhizosphere soil. The same trend was observed for all other enzyme activities and MBC during both seasons except for mineral N. Mineral N was not statistically different between the rhizospheric and bulk soil during the dry season. β-glucosidase and phosphatase acid had the highest correlation with the rhizospheric soil during the dry season respectively 98% and 97%. Soil moisture content was highly correlated with the rhizospheric soil (85%), chitinase activity (99%) and β-glucosidase (97%). Shrubs maintained a moister environment during the dry season which was critical in stimulating microbial activities; this has significant implications for agroecosystem management in the Sahel.
2012
Microbial activity is significantly influenced by soil texture, hydrological regimes, flow dynamics, chemical pollutants, and an assessment of these changes is essential for soil management. In the present investigation, soil microbial activity (as an index of soil enzymes i.e. amylase, invertase, protease and dehydrogenase) and its relationship with different physico-chemical properties with respect to seven different soils has been addressed. The variation of soil enzyme activity in question was significantly attributable to differences in soil texture, C, N and P content, bulk density, water holding capacity, moisture content and soil pH. Comparative analysis of soil enzyme revealed that there was gradual increase in amylase, invertase, protaease and dehydrogeanse activity from a nutrient deficient situation (fresh mine spoil) to an enriched soil (forest soil). Stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed to determine the contribution of different factors influencing the v...