Abstract
The aim of this study was to assess the impact of forest age and season on the soil microbial community and enzyme activities in sea-buckthorn plantation system and to determine the relative contributions to soil microbial properties. Soil sampling was carried out in the dry season (April) and wet season (September) in four areas, including: abandoned farmland (NH), an 8-year- old plantation (young plantation, 8Y), a 13-year-old plantation (middle-aged plantation, 13Y), and an 18-year-old plantation (mature plantation, 18Y). The results showed that forest age and season have a significant effect on soil microbial community structure and enzyme activities. The total, bacterial, fungal, Gram-negative (G+), and Gram-positive (G-) PLFAs increased gradually with forest age, with the highest values detected in 18Y. All the detected enzyme activities showed the trend as a consequence of forest age. The microbial PLFAs and soil enzyme activities were higher in the wet season than the dry season. However, there were no significant interactions between forest age and season. A Correlation analysis suggested that soil microbial communities and enzyme activities were significantly and positively correlated with pH, total nitrogen (TN) and available phosphorus (AP). Season had a stronger influence on soil microbial communities than forest age. In general, sea-buckthorn plantations establishment might be a potential tool for maintaining and increasing soil fertility in arid and semi-arid regions.
Highlights
Soil microbial communities are important components of terrestrial ecosystems
There are no significant differences for soil TK and AK between 13 years old (13Y) and 18 years old (18Y)
Soil microbial biomass or microbial phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) abundance has traditionally been used as an indicator of soil fertility, with changes of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) PLFA, the ratios of saturated to monounsaturated fatty acids, G+ to G- bacteria, and fungal to overall bacterial PLFA (F/B) indicating variation in soil quality [40,41,42]
Summary
Soil microbial communities are important components of terrestrial ecosystems They play a critical role in organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorus [1,2,3]. Soil enzyme activities directly reflect metabolic requirements and available nutrients of soil microorganisms, which are important in the processing and recovery of key nutrients from detrital inputs and accumulated soil organic matter [4].
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