Abstract
Bioenergy crops play an ecologically and economically fundamental role as an alternative to agri-food productions and as renewable energy sources. Thus far, less attention has been given to assessing microbiological indicators of soil quality in bioenergy crops on abandoned land. The current study assessed microbial and biochemical properties of two soils with different textures in agroforestry plantations of Paulownia elongata × Paulownia fortunei, with regard to the analysis of potential for the reclamation and redevelopment of abandoned lands. The soil samples were characterised by measuring microbial biomass C and N, key enzyme activities, and determining the community-level physiological profiles (CLPP) using Biolog EcoPlates. Soil texture, sampling time (June and October), and distance of sampling (0.1 m and 1 m from a tree) had significant effects on microbiological properties. Moreover, dehydrogenases and acid phosphatase activities as well as microbial biomass C and N decreased with distance from the trees, and were significantly higher in the October than in the June. The community-level physiological profiles (CLPP) and diversity indices showed a similar trend to other parameters of biological activity. The results showed that there were significant differences in the AWCD (average well-colour development) of all carbon sources among the Paulownia microbial communities (p < 0.05). In summary, already after one year of tree planting, a statistically significant increase in microbial activity was found, regardless of soil texture, when evaluated by various methods. This proves the value of the Paulownia as fast-growing plant for recultivation and improvement of soil quality on abandoned land.
Highlights
Land use and land management are some of the most important factors that influence soil key properties and the environment [1,2,3]
The aim of the study was to assess the potential of Paulownia bioenergy crops, which is applicable in multifunctional agriculture for the reclamation and redevelopment of abandoned lands
After only one year of observation, it can be concluded that some soil microbial parameters decreased with an increase in distance from the nearest tree, which is related to the decreasing content of nutrients derived from root secretions and leaf residues
Summary
Land use and land management are some of the most important factors that influence soil key properties and the environment [1,2,3]. The recent years have seen dynamic changes in the use of agricultural land. They mainly concern transformation of farmland for abandonment land [4,5]. Agricultural land abandonment is a common process in parts of North America and Europe [8]. This process can be triggered a combination of socio-economic, political factors, farm structure, agricultural viability, and constraints to the natural environment [5,9]. The European Commission denote an alarming trend concerning that, in the period 2015–2030, about 11% (more than 20 million ha) of agricultural land in the EU can be at potential risk of abandonment, bringing the total abandoned land to 5.6 million ha by 2030, the equivalent of 3% of the total agricultural land [10]
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