Abstract
Land use systems have a great impact on soil function and microbial diversity in tropical soils. Our study aimed to evaluate soil biochemical indicators and community composition and to assess the relationship between soil biochemical and microbial indicators and bacterial diversity of three agroecosystems (pine forest, soya and sugarcane) and native Cerrado forest in the Brazilian savanna. Soil biochemical indicators (soil organic matter and enzymes) and high-throughput sequencing of 16S rDNA were performed in two topsoil depths (0-5 cm and 5-10 cm). Soil microbial and enzyme activity showed that agricultural soil usage has a negative impact on soil function compared to native and pine forests. Results also revealed higher enzyme activities in 0-5 cm depth compared to 5-10 cm depth, but enzymatic activities depend on land use systems. Soil bacterial community was affected by land use systems and depth, revealing changes in structure and abundance of bacterial composition. Alpha-diversity indexes were higher in the agricultural systems than in the forests, however they showed a significant negative correlation with most of the studied soil microbial and biochemical indicators. Our research had brought new relevant information about the relationship between the soil biochemical indicators and the bacterial diversity in the Brazilian Cerrado.
Highlights
Land use systems have caused several impacts on soil function, soil chemical, physical and biological properties (Gil-Sotres et al 2005, Thomson et al 2015, Manoharan et al 2017, VinhalFreitas et al 2017)
The greatest values of MBC, Soil microbial respiration (SMR), microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), and fluorescein diacetate (FDA) were found in native Cerrado forest, but soil DHA was higher under pine system in 0-5 cm depth compared to other ecosystems
Soil microbial and biochemical indicators showed that agricultural soil usage has a negative impact on soil function, indicating a lower useefficiency of soil resources by microorganisms in agroecosystems
Summary
Land use systems have caused several impacts on soil function, soil chemical, physical and biological properties (Gil-Sotres et al 2005, Thomson et al 2015, Manoharan et al 2017, VinhalFreitas et al 2017). Soil enzyme activities, which are associated with carbon transformations and nutrient cycling, are affected by land use systems. Hydrolytic enzymes have an extracellular activity and are mainly produced by soil microorganisms. Such indicators are important for assessing the intensity of soil degradation among different use ecosystems. The effects of land use on soil function are determined by agricultural practices, soil type and environmental conditions (Gil-Sotres et al 2005, Wallenius et al 2011). Soil microbial community seems to be highly responsive to all or any soil physical, chemical and biological changes, as well as
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