Soil Microbial Communities and Enzyme Activities after Long-Term Application of Inorganic and Organic Fertilizers at Different Depths of the Soil Profile

Josef Trögl,Lukáš Hlisnikovský,Ladislav Holík,Jan Popelka,Hana Burdová,Roman Honzík

doi:10.3390/su11123251

Abstract

Fertilization is a key factor for sustaining productivity in agroecosystems. A long-term experiment in cambisol following periodical application of several types of fertilization has been running at the experimental site since 1954. In this study, we determined the impact of applied inorganic and/or organic fertilizers on the activity of soil enzymes and on the structure of microorganisms at depths of 0–30 cm and 30–60 cm. Single-factor comparison showed that use of inorganic and/or organic fertilizer had an insignificant effect on the activities of soil enzymes (at depths 0–30 cm and 30–60 cm) and also on the structure of microbial communities at both depths studied. Only soil respirations exhibited stimulation by combined fertilization. The results, irrespective of sampling depth (0–60 cm), showed that application of combined organic and inorganic fertilization stimulated the activity of glucosidases and use of inorganic fertilizer inhibited the activity of arylsulphatases. Respirations were stimulated by application of organic fertilizer and combined fertilization. Nevertheless, principal component analyses, which calculate with multidimensional data, revealed differences in samples treated by sole mineral fertilizer compared to other variants, especially in the lower layer. In general, our results indicate that use of combined fertilization may improve biological characteristics in deeper parts of soil profile and possibly increase biological activity in agroecosystems.

Highlights

Agricultural land shows a high level of spatial variability, including variability in physicochemical characteristics of soil and management of agroecosystems [1,2], which can influence activity and composition of soil biota [3,4,5]
We were concerned with the influence of application of NPK, farmyard manure (FYM), and NPK + FYM on the soil microbial community and activity of soil enzymes at depths of 0–30 cm and 30–60 cm
The same effect was discovered in PLFAtot, the biomass of fungi, bacteria, and actinobacteria

Summary

Introduction

Agricultural land shows a high level of spatial variability, including variability in physicochemical characteristics of soil and management of agroecosystems [1,2], which can influence activity and composition of soil biota [3,4,5]. Soil is a very complex system in which plants and microorganisms collaborate to obtain sources of water and nutrients. These forms of life cooperate with one another and, together with soil, they create continually changing conditions [6]. High content of soil organic matter (SOM) can increase supply of nutrients [8] and improve physical and biological characteristics of soil [9,10], maintaining SOM is important for preserving the productivity of agroecosystems. Changes of organic C and N fractions in organic substances are the result of combined effects of chemical and biological characteristics of the soil [15]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion