Determinantsofsoilcarbonandnitrogenhydrolyzingenzymes.docx

EnvironmentalScienceandPollutionResearchhttpsdoi.org10.17sll356-021-16817-8RESEARCHARTICLEDeterminantsofsoilcarbon-andnitrogen-hydrolyzingenzymeswithindiferentaforestedlandsincentralChinaQianxiLi国 Xiaoli Chengxlcheng Hubei Provincial Academy of Eco-environmental Sciences (Hubei Eco-environmental Engineering Assessment Center), Wuhan 430079, People's Republic of China* Schl of Environmental Studies. China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, People's Republic of ChinaYiranDong2QianZhang', Key Laboratorjf of Soil Ecology and Health in Universities OfYunnan Province. School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, People's Republic of ChinaWeiJia Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology. Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Wuhan 430074, People's Republic of ChinaXiaoIiCheng3Received:27May2021/Accepted:25September2021©TheAuthor(s),undere×dusivelicencetoSpringer-VerlagGmbHGermany,partofSpringerNature2021AbstractSoilorganicmatter(SOM)decompositionisregulatedbyacomplexsetofenzymes.However,theinfuencesofbioticandabioticfactorsonspatialvariationsofsoilenzymeactivity(EA)withinecosystemsremainunresolved.Here,wemeasuredEAatdiferentlocationswithintwoaforestedlands(coniferouswoodlandandleguminousshrubland),andsimultaneouslycollecteddataonsoilphysico-chemical,vegetation-related,andmicrobialpropertiestoidentifythedeterminantsofEAspatialpatterns.TheresultsshowedthatsoilorganicCandtotalNcontentswerethepredominantabioticfactorsinregulatingabsoluteEA(EAperunitofoven-drysoilmass)inbothaforestedlands,whilesoilpHwasthepredominantfactorinregulatingspecifcEA(EAperunitofmicrobialbiomass(MB).However,thepredominantbioticfactorsvariedwiththeaforestedtype:therootbiomassandMBwerethedeterminantsofEAintheshrubland,whereasthetreedistribution,litterandrootbiomass,andbacterialbiomasswerethedeterminantsinthewoodland.Vegetation-relatedfactors(i.e.,litterandrootbiomass)indirectlyinfuencedsoilEAbyregulatingthesoilabioticfactors.ComparedwiththeMB,microbialcommunitycompositionhadaminorimpactonEA.ThevarianceofspecifcEA(EAperunitofMBorSOM)explainedbyselectedfactorswasmuchlowerthanthatofabsoluteEA.Inaddition,theenzymaticC/Nratiowithinecosystemsdidnotfollowageneralpattern(1:1)observedataglobalscale.Ourresultsprovidenovelexperimentalinsightintoecosystem-levelspatialvariabilityofCandNcyclingviaenzymes,suggestingthatsoilabioticfactorsaremorereliablethanbioticfactorstorefectEAspatialpatternsacrossaforestedsystems.KeywordsSoilenzymeactivitySpatialvariationAforestationEnzymestoichiometryVariationpartitioningpublishedonline:26october2021ResponsibleEditor:RobertDuranIntroductionGiventhatsoilscontainthelargestreservoiroforganiccarbon(C)andnitrogen(N)inthebiosphere(Lal2004;LehmannandKleber2015),soilorganicmatter(SOM)mineralizationcouldpotentiallyregulateglobalCandNcycling.Meanwhile,soilenzymesareregardedasproximateagentsofSOMmineralizationbecausetheyreducetheactivationenergyofrate-limitingreactionsandspeedupthebreakdownofpolymericmacromoleculesintolowmolecules(Nannipierietal.2012;Bumsetal.2013;Maoetal.2015).Therefore,accuratepredictionofsoilenzymeactivity(EA)canprovideusefulinformationaboutSOMturnoveraswellasitsresponsetoanthropogenicdisturbancesandenvironmentalchanges(Hanetal.2019).However,thepredictionofsoilEAiscomplicatedsinceenzymesarenotevenlydistributedintheenvironment(Baldrian2014).RelativelyhighspatialvariabilityofsoilEAhasbeenobservedevenwithinasinglefeldbecausesoilEAareregulatedbymultiplebioticfactors(e.g.,vegetationandmicrobialcommunitycomposition)andabioticfactors(e.g.,soilphysico-chemicalpropertiesandmicroclimate).Inrecentdecades,anumberofstudieshavebeenconductedtoexplorethespatialvariationsofsoilEAandtheirdeterminantsataglobalorregionalscale.Basedonthesestudies,soilpHandSOMcontentwereidentifedasthemostimportantabioticfactorsafectingsoilEA,especiallyforsoilhydrolaseactivity(Sinsabaughetal.2008;KivlinandTreseder2014;Xuetal.2020).However,thespatialvariabilityofsoilEAwithinecosystemshasbeenlargelyneglected(Banerjeeetal.2016;Stursovaetal.2016).Whetherobse,ationsatlargescalescouldapplytoasingleecosystemisstillanopenquestion.AlthoughafewstudieshaveinvestigatedthespatialheterogeneityofsoilEAwithinecosystemsandthedeterminants,theseconclusionsareindebate.Forexample,Boeddinghausetal.(2015)reportedthatsoilpHwasanimportantdeterminantofspatialdistributionofEAinagrasslandecosystem,whilestudiesconductedinforestecosystemsandinagrassland-woodlandecotonefoundthatsoilpHwasnotspatiallyconnectedwithsoilEAbecauseoftheverylowvariationsofpHobservedinthesestudies(Banerjeeetal.2016;tursovaetal.2016).Mayoretal.(2016)investigatedthespatialdiferencesinsoilEAlevelsbetweenvegetationpatchesandinter-patchesinashrublandecosystem,andfoundthatvegetationcanopycouldafectsoilEApatternsthroughrhizosphereefectsandsubstrateinputbyIitterfall(Dornbush2007;Brzosteketal.2013;Fengetal.2019).Bycontrast,vegetationpropertiesdidnotSignifcantlyinf