Soil enzyme activities and their stoichiometry at different altitudes in Helan Mountains, Northwest China

Abstract

Understanding altitudinal variation characteristics and driving mechanism of soil enzyme activities and their stoichiometry is of great significance for studying nutrient cycling in fragile mountain forest ecosystems. In this study, we collected soil samples from different altitudes (1380-2438 m) in Helan Mountains to analyze the altitudinal changes in soil physicochemical properties, soil enzyme activities and their stoichiometry and its influencing factors. The results showed that the activities of β-glucosidase (βG) and β-N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG) and the enzyme activities ratios of soil C/N and soil C/P firstly increased and then decreased with increasing altitude, which all peaked at 2139 m. Alkaline phosphatase (AKP) activities increased with the increases of altitude, with the maximum being found at 2438 m. However, L-leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) activities and soil N/P enzyme activities ratios did not change with increasing altitude. Compared with the soil enzyme stoichiometry in other regions of the world, Helan Mountains showed a certain degree of N limitation. Except for LAP, the activities of the other three enzymes were significantly positively correlated with the ratios of soil organic carbon/total nitrogen, soil organic carbon/total phosphorus, and total nitrogen/total phosphorus, and negatively correlated with pH. The LAP, soil C/P enzyme activities ratios and soil N/P enzyme activities ratios showed significant negative correlation with TP. In addition, AKP was significantly negatively correlated with soil bulk density.