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Effect of air-drying treatment on enzymatic activities of soils affected by anthropogenic activities

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Abstract

The influence of air-drying on dehydrogenase, invertase, β-glucosidase, urease, phosphatase, arylsulphatase and phenoloxidase activities was measured in three soils affected by anthropogenic activities and in control soils sampled from neighbouring areas. The air-drying changed enzyme activity, but the behaviour was neither site-specific nor enzyme-sensitive. Canonical discriminant analysis of enzymatic activities of both moist fresh and air-dried samples was able to discriminate between altered and unaltered soils irrespective of the site. Numerical alteration indices were developed as a linear function of the seven enzyme activities and the one obtained from fresh sample data was more successful. Air-drying apparently alters in unpredictable ways enzyme activities of soils, which could lead to misinterpretation of results.

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Fig. 1a–d.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca, Italy, Programmi di Interesse Nazionale PRIN 2000–2001. The authors are indebted to Attilio A.M. Del Re for critically reading the manuscript and for his advice on the statistical interpretation. DiSSPA contribution no. 048.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze del Suolo della Pianta e dell'Ambiente, Sezione Scienze Chimico-Agrarie, Università di Napoli Federico II, Via Università 100, 80055, Napoli, Portici, Italy

    Maria Antonietta Rao, Filomena Sannino, Giulia Nocerino & Liliana Gianfreda

  2. Istituto di Chimica agraria e ambientale, Facoltà di Agraria dell'Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Sede di Piacenza, Italy

    Edoardo Puglisi

Authors
  1. Maria Antonietta Rao
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  2. Filomena Sannino
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  3. Giulia Nocerino
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  4. Edoardo Puglisi
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  5. Liliana Gianfreda
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Correspondence to Liliana Gianfreda.

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Rao, M.A., Sannino, F., Nocerino, G. et al. Effect of air-drying treatment on enzymatic activities of soils affected by anthropogenic activities. Biol Fertil Soils 38, 327–332 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-003-0660-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-003-0660-z

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