Seasonal variation of microbial activity in soil and forest floor under three different fir plantations

Year 2020, Volume: 8 Issue: 2, 109 - 122, 15.06.2020

Serdar Akburak

https://doi.org/10.31195/ejejfs.695673

Abstract

Microbil activity is one of the important process for biochemical cycles in soil and forest floor of ecosystems. Because, , the carbon dioxide and nutrients needed by plants are released during the microbial activity. In this study, we were investigated releationships between environmental factors (mositure, temperature, pH, electric conductivity, C, N, Na, Ca, Mg, K, P) and seasonal variations of microbal respiration, microbial biomass-C and metabolic quotient (qCO2) in the forest floor and soil (0-5cm) under three adjacent Abies plantation plots (Abies nordmanniana ssp. bornmuelleriana Mattf. (Ab), Abies cilicica Carr. (Ac) and Abies nordmanniana ssp. nordmanniana Mattf (An)) in Atatürk Arboretum located in Istanbul-Turkey. Sampling was carried out by collecting bimonthly (from May-2012 to March-2013) both soil (54 sample) and forest floor (54 sample) samples within each species. According to the results of the study, soil microbial respiration (SMR) has significantly lower value in Ab plot. Although SMR and soil microbial biomass-C (SMBC) were correlated with moisture and temperature in An plot, they were correlated with nutrients in other plots. In general, an increase in soil respiration rates was showed in autumn and early spring. Forest floor microbial respiration (FFMR), microbial biomass-C (FFMBC) and metabolic quotent (qCO2) did not differ among the plots. The measured FFMR, FFMBC and qCO2 parameters were lower in autumn than spring. Forest floor microbial parameters were drived by the variation of nutrients amounts. As a result, microbial processes in both soil and forest floor changed with the effect of different factors although there was no clear difference among the plots,

Keywords

Microbial respiration, Microbial biomass-C, qCO2

Project Number

BYP-2017-23685

References

• Agnelli, A., Ugolini, F., Corti, G., Pietramellara, G. (2001). Microbial biomass-C and basal respiration of fine earth and highly altered rock fragments of two forest soils. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 33, 613-620.
• Akburak, S., Son, Y., Makineci, E., Çakir, M. (2018). Impacts of low-intensity prescribed fire on microbial and chemical soil properties in a Quercus frainetto forest. Journal of forestry research 29, 687-696.
• Alef, K., Nannipieri, P., 1995. Methods in applied soil microbiology and biochemistry. Academic Press.
• Allen, A., Schlesinger, W. (2004). Nutrient limitations to soil microbial biomass and activity in loblolly pine forests. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 36, 581-589.
• Anderson, T.H., Domsch, K. (1986). Carbon assimilation and microbial activity in soil. Zeitschrift für Pflanzenernährung und Bodenkunde 149, 457-468.
• Araujo, A., Silva, E., Nunes, L., Carneiro, R. (2010). The effect of converting tropical native savanna to Eucalyptus grandis forest on soil microbial biomass. Land degradation & development 21, 540-545.
• Baldrian, P. (2017). Microbial activity and the dynamics of ecosystem processes in forest soils. Current opinion in microbiology 37, 128-134.
• Bolat, I. (2014). The effect of thinning on microbial biomass C, N and basal respiration in black pine forest soils in Mudurnu, Turkey. European journal of forest research 133, 131-139.
• Bolat, İ., Kara, Ö., Tunay, M. (2015). Effects of Seasonal Changes on Microbial Biomass and Respiration of Forest Floor and Topsoil under Bornmullerian Fir Stand. Eurasian Journal of Forest Science 3, 1-13.
• Brookes, P., Cayuela, M.L., Contin, M., De Nobili, M., Kemmitt, S., Mondini, C. (2008). The mineralisation of fresh and humified soil organic matter by the soil microbial biomass. Waste Management 28, 716-722.
• Butenschoen, O., Scheu, S., Eisenhauer, N. (2011). Interactive effects of warming, soil humidity and plant diversity on litter decomposition and microbial activity. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 43, 1902-1907.
• Cheng, F., Peng, X., Zhao, P., Yuan, J., Zhong, C., Cheng, Y., Cui, C., Zhang, S. (2013). Soil microbial biomass, basal respiration and enzyme activity of main forest types in the Qinling Mountains. PLoS One 8.
• Çakır, M. (2018). Richness and diversity of litter and soil fauna as affected by differences in three fir species. Bosque 39, 441-447.
• Çakır, M., Akburak, S. (2017). Litterfall and nutrients return to soil in pure and mixed stands of oak and beech. İstanbul Üniversitesi Orman Fakültesi Dergisi 67, 185-200.
• Diaz-Ravina, M., Acea, M., Carballas, T. (1993). Seasonal fluctuations in microbial populations and available nutrients in forest soils. Biology and Fertility of Soils 16, 205-210.
• Docherty, K.M., Borton, H.M., Espinosa, N., Gebhardt, M., Gil-Loaiza, J., Gutknecht, J.L., Maes, P.W., Mott, B.M., Parnell, J.J., Purdy, G. (2015). Key edaphic properties largely explain temporal and geographic variation in soil microbial communities across four biomes. PLoS One 10.
• Glassman, S.I., Weihe, C., Li, J., Albright, M.B., Looby, C.I., Martiny, A.C., Treseder, K.K., Allison, S.D., Martiny, J.B. (2018). Decomposition responses to climate depend on microbial community composition. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115, 11994-11999.
• Gonçalves, I., Araújo, A., Carvalho, E., Carneiro, R. (2009). Effect of paclobutrazol on microbial biomass, respiration and cellulose decomposition in soil. European journal of soil biology 45, 235-238.
• Haripal, K., Sahoo, S. (2014). Microbial biomass Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus dynamics along a chronosequence of abandoned tropical agroecosystems. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences 3, 956-970.
• Hofman, J., Dušek, L., Klánová, J., Bezchlebová, J., Holoubek, I. (2004). Monitoring microbial biomass and respiration in different soils from the Czech Republic—a summary of results. Environment International 30, 19-30.
• Jia, G.-m., Cao, J., Wang, C., Wang, G. (2005). Microbial biomass and nutrients in soil at the different stages of secondary forest succession in Ziwulin, northwest China. Forest Ecology and Management 217, 117-125.
• Jiang, J.-P., Xiong, Y.-C., Jiang, H.-M., De-You, Y., Ya-Jie, S., Feng-Min, L. (2009). Soil microbial activity during secondary vegetation succession in semiarid abandoned lands of Loess Plateau. Pedosphere 19, 735-747.
• Kara, Ö., Bolat, I. (2008). Soil microbial biomass C and N changes in relation to forest conversion in the Northwestern Turkey. Land Degradation & Development 19, 421-428.
• Li, Y., Liu, Y., Wu, S., Niu, L., Tian, Y. (2015). Microbial properties explain temporal variation in soil respiration in a grassland subjected to nitrogen addition. Scientific reports 5, 18496.
• Mariani, L., Chang, S.X., Kabzems, R. (2006). Effects of tree harvesting, forest floor removal, and compaction on soil microbial biomass, microbial respiration, and N availability in a boreal aspen forest in British Columbia. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 38, 1734-1744.
• Nsabimana, D., Haynes, R., Wallis, F. (2004). Size, activity and catabolic diversity of the soil microbial biomass as affected by land use. Applied Soil Ecology 26, 81-92.
• Oktay, S., Tecimen, B.H. (2016). Nitrogen Mineralization Experiment under Fir Stand with Different Measurement Methods Asian Journal of Agriculture and Food Sciences 4, 157-163.
• Oyedele, A.O., Olayungbo, A.A., Denton, O.A., Ogunrewo, O.M., Momodu, F.O. (2015). Assessment of the microbial biomass carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in relation to physico-chemical properties of Acric Luvisols in Ibadan South West, Nigeria. Journal of Agriculture and Environment for International Development (JAEID) 109, 179-187.
• Park, J.-H., Kalbitz, K., Matzner, E. (2002). Resource control on the production of dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen in a deciduous forest floor. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 34, 813-822.
• Pei, Z., Eichenberg, D., Bruelheide, H., Kröber, W., Kühn, P., Li, Y., von Oheimb, G., Purschke, O., Scholten, T., Buscot, F. (2016). Soil and tree species traits both shape soil microbial communities during early growth of Chinese subtropical forests. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 96, 180-190.
• Pietri, J.A., Brookes, P. (2008). Relationships between soil pH and microbial properties in a UK arable soil. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 40, 1856-1861.
• Prescott, C.E., Grayston, S.J. (2013). Tree species influence on microbial communities in litter and soil: current knowledge and research needs. Forest Ecology and Management 309, 19-27.
• Priess, J., Fölster, H. (2001). Microbial properties and soil respiration in submontane forests of Venezuelian Guyana: characteristics and response to fertilizer treatments. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 33, 503-509.
• Qu, L., Kitaoka, S., Koike, T. (2018). Factors controlling soil microbial respiration during the growing season in a mature larch plantation in Northern Japan. Journal of soils and sediments 18, 661-668.
• Schoenholtz, S.H., Van Miegroet, H., Burger, J. (2000). A review of chemical and physical properties as indicators of forest soil quality: challenges and opportunities. Forest ecology and management 138, 335-356.
• Singh, J. (2018). Microbes: Key Ecological Drivers in Controlling the Issues Related to Environmental Changes. Annals of Microbiology and Immunology 1, 1009.
• Soong, J.L., Marañon-Jimenez, S., Cotrufo, M.F., Boeckx, P., Bodé, S., Guenet, B., Peñuelas, J., Richter, A., Stahl, C., Verbruggen, E. (2018). Soil microbial CNP and respiration responses to organic matter and nutrient additions: Evidence from a tropical soil incubation. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 122, 141-149.
• Spohn, M. (2015). Microbial respiration per unit microbial biomass depends on litter layer carbon-to-nitrogen ratio. Biogeosciences 12, 817-823.
• Tan, X., Chang, S.X., Kabzems, R. (2008). Soil compaction and forest floor removal reduced microbial biomass and enzyme activities in a boreal aspen forest soil. Biology and Fertility of Soils 44, 471-479.
• Wang, Q., Kwak, J.-H., Choi, W.-J., Chang, S.X. (2018). Decomposition of trembling aspen leaf litter under long-term nitrogen and sulfur deposition: effects of litter chemistry and forest floor microbial properties. Forest Ecology and Management 412, 53-61.
• Wang, W., Dalal, R., Moody, P., Smith, C. (2003). Relationships of soil respiration to microbial biomass, substrate availability and clay content. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 35, 273-284.
• Wardle, D. (1992). A comparative assessment of factors which influence microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen levels in soil. Biological reviews 67, 321-358.
• Wardle, D., Ghani. (1995). A critique of the microbial metabolic quotient (qCO2) as a bioindicator of disturbance and ecosystem development. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 27, 1601-1610.
• Wolters, V., Joergensen, R. (1991). Microbial carbon turnover in beech forest soils at different stages of acidification. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 23, 897-902.
• Wu, J., He, Z.-L., Wei, W.-X., O'donnell, A., Syers, J. (2000). Quantifying microbial biomass phosphorus in acid soils. Biology and Fertility of Soils 32, 500-507.
• Yang, K., Zhu, J., Zhang, M., Yan, Q., Sun, O.J. (2010). Soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen in forest ecosystems of Northeast China: a comparison between natural secondary forest and larch plantation. Journal of Plant Ecology 3, 175-182.
• Yuan, B.-C., Yue, D.-X. (2012). Soil microbial and enzymatic activities across a chronosequence of Chinese pine plantation development on the loess plateau of China. Pedosphere 22, 1-12.