Effects of shrubs on soil nutrients and enzymatic activities over a 0–100 cm soil profile in the desert-loess transition zone

Abstract

The creation of “fertile islands” beneath shrubs in dryland ecosystems has been widely reported worldwide and is the major factor influencing ecosystem structure and function. However, studies investigating whether and how shrubs affect soil biogeochemical cycles in deep soil layers are relatively limited. In this study, we examined the vertical distribution of the soil nutrient contents and enzymatic activities at the 0–100 cm soil profiles beneath three common xerophytic shrubs (Artemisia ordosica, Caragana korshinskii and Salix psammophila) and in interspace bare soils in a transition zone from desert to loess in the north of China. The soil metrics included the contents of organic carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, nitrate and ammonium nitrogen, available phosphorus and potassium, and the activities of saccharase, urease, alkaline phosphatase and amylase. We found that the contents of organic carbon, total nitrogen and available potassium, and the activities of saccharase, urease and alkaline phosphatase were higher in the soils beneath shrubs than in the interspace bare areas, but these differences only occurred in the 0–10 cm soil profile but not in the soils below the depth of 10 cm. The soil quality index was consistently improved among the three shrub species in the topsoil. In addition, the soil nutrients were positively correlated with enzymatic activities, and the organic carbon content explained approximately 50% of the variations in the enzymatic activities. Collectively, our results demonstrated that the establishment of xerophytic shrubs improved the soil chemical and biological conditions in the desert-loess transition region, and the effect was restricted to the 0–10 cm soil layer.