Abstract

Microbial activity of the tree rhizosphere provides important information relating to the selection of tree species for afforestation of the degraded land. This study was conducted using an in situ rhizobox approach, with the aims of establishing a viable technique for sampling desired rhizosphere soil and assessing the feasibility of rhizosphere soil microbial index (RSMI) as an indicator to screen tree species for the seasonal flood land of Yantse River, China. The characteristics examined include soil pH, soil organic carbon (SOC), soil total nitrogen (TN), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), microbial quotients, enzyme activities (urease, proteinase, asparaginase and catalase) and relative growth rate of tree species, while the RSMI was calculated by principal component analysis. The results indicated that microbial properties of rhizosphere soil were significantly affected by trees species planted under seasonal flooding lands. Microbial biomass and its activity in the rhizosphere have a great ecological significance, and MBC, pH, MBN/TN, MBC/MBN and MBC/SOC could be most important properties for appraising rhizosphere soil quality. The RSMIs calculated by integrating microbial properties were different from various sampling positions of rhizosphere soil, and a significant difference in RSMI was observed among the five tree species for all sampling positions. The in situ rhizobox approach taken in this study can be used as an available method for sampling rhizosphere soil, and sampling the soil at 0–4mm distance from the root mats as rhizosphere soil is reliable. Results from this study suggested that tree species having an RSMI>0.5 would be used for afforestation at the seasonal flooding lands of Yangtse River.

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