Effects of thinning on soil active organic carbon contents and enzyme activities in Larix principis-rupprechtii plantation

Abstract

The effects of thinning on soil active organic carbon and related soil enzyme activities were investigated in a Larix principis-rupprechtii plantation in Taiyue Mountain. With the increases of soil depth, the content of soil labile organic carbon, soil nitrogen content and enzyme activities all reduced. For each soil layer, moderate thinning increased soil carbon and nitrogen contents dramati-cally. The activities of sucrase (SC) and peroxidase (PEO) and the activities of polyphenol oxidase (PHO) and urease (UE) in the layer of 0-10 cm could be significantly improved by low thinning and moderate thinning, respectively. For the 10-50 cm layer, the activities of SC and UE were reduced by low thinning, while moderate thinning markedly reduced the activities of cellulase. Results from redundancy analysis showed that dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was the main factor affecting soil enzyme activity in both 0-10 cm and 20-30 cm soil layers and that soil organic carbon (SOC) contents affected the activities of PHO and SC in 10-20 cm soil layer. The microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) mainly affected the activities of PHO, PEO and UE in 30-40 cm soil layer. The contents of total P (TP) and readily oxidized carbon (ROC) played an important role in affecting soil enzyme activities in 40-50 cm soil layer. The results indicated that thinning could dramati-cally affect soil active organic carbon content and soil enzyme activity in L. principis-rupprechtii plantation. Moderate thinning treatment could obtain the highest soil nutrients and achieve better soil chemical properties such as soil pH, water content and organic matter content than other treatments, which could improve vegetation structure, litter and nutrient cycling process. Therefore, we recommended moderate density adjustment (1404-1422 trees·hm-2) to L. principis-rupprechtii plantation to promote soil carbon and nitrogen retention.