Abstract
The present study focused on the soil enzyme activities through in situ incubation of litter decomposition pits across major seasons in a subtropical forest of Bengal. This study examined the activities of extracellular enzymes (amylase, cellulase and invertase) and their relationship with the types of litter decay and soil physiochemical properties at different depths of the soil matrix. The higher decay constant (k) of decomposed leaf litter was recorded for Tectona and lower for Albizia in the studied three seasons. The results also revealed that the activities of soil extracellular enzymes were higher in rainy season compared to winter in all experimental sites with respect to control. Among the studied enzymes, invertase was significantly higher in different decomposed sites at the surface soils compared to other enzymes during the rainy season. The results also demonstrated that the enzyme activities gradually declined from the surface soil to subsurface soil at the different decomposed sites. However, in surface soil, the amylase and invertase activities were highest in Tectona litter-containing soil and cellulase activity was highest in Shorea litter-containing soil in all the studied seasons. On the other hand, soil parameters such as moisture, organic carbon and available nitrogen were significantly correlated with enzyme activities in different decomposed sites. The results suggest that the activity of the extracellular enzymes involved in litter decomposition varies in different species and seasons.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Asmar F, Eiland F, Nielson NE (1994) Effect of extracellular-enzyme activities on solubilization rate of soil organic nitrogen. Biol Fertil Soils 17:32–38
Andersson M, Kjøller A, Struwe S (2004) Microbial enzyme activities in leaf litter, humus and mineral soil layers of European forests. Soil Biol Biochem 36:1527–1537
Amador JA, Glucksman AM, Lyons JB, Gorres JH (1997) Spatial distribution of soil phosphatase activity within a riparian forest. Soil Sci 162:808–825
Black CA (1965) Methods of soil analysis. Part I and II. American Society of Agronomy Inc, Madison
Boerner REJ, Brinkman JA, Smith A (2005) Seasonal variations in enzyme activity and organic carbon in soil of a burned and unburned hardwood forest. Soil Biol Biochem 37:1419–1426
Cong-yan W, LÜ Y, Lei W, Liu X, Xing-jun T (2013) Insights into seasonal variation of litter decomposition and related soil degradative enzyme activities in subtropical forest in China. J For Res 24(4):683–689
Chhotaray D, Mohapatra PK, Mishra CS (2011) Farm management to control of soil microbial density and metabolic activities in rice-rice agroecosystem. Int J Microbiol Res 2:86–92
Crecchio C, Curci M, Mininni R, Ricciuti P, Ruggiero P (2001) Short-term effects of municipal solid waste compost amendments on soil carbon nitrogen content, some enzyme activities and genetic diversity. Biol Fertil Soils 34:311–318
Das C, Aditya P, Datta JK, Mondal NK (2014) Soil enzyme activities in dependence on tree litter and season of a social forest, Burdwan, India. Arch Agron Soil Sci 60(3):405–422
Das SK, Varma A (2011) Role of enzymes in maintaining soil health. In: Shukla G, Varma A (eds) Soil enzymology, soil biology, vol 22. Springer, Berlin
DeForest JL, Zak DR, Pregitzer KS, Burton AJ (2004) Atmospheric nitrate deposition, microbial community composition, and enzyme activity in northern hardwood forests. Soil Sci Soc Am 68:132–138
Fenner N, Freeman C, Reynolds B (2005) Observations of a seasonally shifting thermal optimum in peat land Carbon-cycling processes; implications for the global carbon cycle and soil enzyme methodologies. Soil Biol Biochem 37:1814–1821
Fontaine S, Mariotti A, Abbadie L (2003) The priming effect of organic matter: a question of microbial competition? Soil Biol Biochem 35:837–843
Fioretto A, Papa S, Fuggi A (2003) Litterfall and litter decomposition in a low Mediterranean shrub land. Biol Fertil Soil 39(37):44
Gomez KA, Gomez AA (1984) Statistical procedures for agriculture research, 2nd edn. Willey, New York
Hu YL, Wang SL, Yan SK, Gao H (2005) Effects of replacing natural secondary broad leaved forest with Cunninghamia lanceolata plantation on soil biological activities (in Chinese). Chin J Appl Ecol 16:1411–1416
Joachim HJ, Patrick AN (2008) Selected Soil enzymes: examples of their potential roles in the ecosystem. Afr J Biotechnol 7(3):181–191
Kayang H (2001) Fungal and bacterial enzyme activities in Alnus nepalensis D. Don. Eur J Soil Biol 37:175–180
Ke X, Zhao LJ, Yin WY (1999) Succession in communities of soil animals during leaf litter decomposition in Cyclobalanopsis glauca forest. Zool Res 20:207–213
Kandeler E, Palli S, Stemmer M, Gerzabek MH (1999) Tillage changes microbial biomass and enzyme activities in particle-size fractions of a haplic chernozem. Soil Biol Biochem 31:1253–1264
Kourtev PS, Ehrenfeld JG, Haggblom M (2002) Exotic plant species alter the microbial community structure and function in the soil. Ecology 83:3152–3166
Li F, Yu J, Nong M, Kong S, Zhang J (2010) Partial root-zone irrigation enhanced soil enzyme activities and water use of maize under different ratios of inorganic to organic nitrogen fertilizers. Agric Water Manag 97:231–239
Lee YC, Nam JM, Kim JG (2011) The influence of black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia flower and leaf fall on soil phosphate. Plant Soil 341:269–277
Li Q, Jin ZJ, Li ZY, Luo K, Tang ZQ, Huang JY, Lu WT (2014) Effect of karst physiognomy on microbial abundance and enzyme activity of soil. Bull Soil Water Conserv 3:50–54
Mishra PC, Mohanty RK, Dash MC (1979) Enzyme activity in subtropical surface soils under pasture. Indian J Agric Chem 12:19–24
Mukhopadhyay S, Joy VC (2010) Influence of leaf types on microbial functions and nutrient status of soil: ecological suitability of forest trees for afforestation in tropical laterite wastelands. Soil Biol Biochem 42:2306–2315
Monson RK, Lipson DA, Burns SP, Turnipseed AA, Delany AC, Williams MW, Schmidt SK (2006) Winter forest soil respiration controlled by climate and microbial community composition. Nature 439:711–714
Moreno JL, García C, Hernández T (2003) Toxic effects of cadmium and nickel on soil enzymes and the influence of adding sewage sludge. Eur Soil Sci 54:377–380
Miller M, Dick RP (1995) Thermal stability and activities of soil enzymes as influenced by crop rotations. Soil Biol Biochem 27:1161–1166
Olson JS (1963) Energy storage and the balance of producers and decomposers in ecological systems. Ecology 44:322–331
Olsen’s SR, Cole CV, Watnabe FS, Dean LA (1954) Estimation of available phosphorus in soils by extraction with sodium bicarbonate. Government Printing Office, USDA Circular, Washington DC
Panse VG, Sukhatme PV (1967) Statistical methods for agricultural workers. ICAR, New Delhi, pp 97–123
Pandey RR, Sharma G, Tripathi SK, Singh AK (2007) Litterfall, litter decomposition and nutrient dynamics in a subtropical natural oak forest and managed plantation in north eastern India. For Ecol Manag 240:96–104
Sinsabaugh RL, Antibus RK, Linkins AE, McClaugherty CA, Rayburn L, Repert D, Weiland T (1993) Wood decomposition: nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics in relation to extracellular enzyme activity. Ecology 74:1586–1593
Schmidt SK, Costello EK, Nemergut DR, Cleveland CC, Reed SC, Weintraub MN, Meyer AF, Martin AM (2007) Biogeochemical consequences of rapid microbial turnover and seasonal succession in soil. Ecology 88:1379–1385
Schoenholtz SH, Van Miegroet H, Burger JA (2000) A review of chemical and physical properties as indicators of forest soil quality: challenges and opportunities. For Ecol Manag 138:335–356
Schulze ED (2000) The carbon and nitrogen cycle of forest ecosystems. In: Schulze E-D (ed) Carbon and nitrogen cycling in European forest ecosystems. Springer, Berlin, pp 3–13
Sangha KK, Jalota RK, Midmore DJ (2006) Litter production, decomposition and nutrient release in cleared and uncleared pasture systems of central Queensland. Aust J Trop Ecol 22:177–189
Sotomayor-Ramírez D, Espinoza Y, Acosta-Martínez V (2009) Land use effects on microbial biomass C, β-glucosidase and β-glucosaminidase activities, and availability, storage, and age of organic C in soil. Biol Fert Soils 45:487–497
Subbiah BV, Asija GL (1956) A rapid procedure for the determination of available nitrogen in soils. Curr Sci 25:259–260
Sinsabaugh RL, Linkins AE (1993) Statistical modeling of litter decomposition from integrated cellulase activity. Ecology 74:1594–1597
Sohng J, Han AhR, Mi-Ae Jeong, Park Y, Park BB, Park PS (2014) Seasonal pattern of decomposition and N, P, and C dynamics in leaf litter in a Mongolian oak forest and a Korean pine plantation. Forests 5:2561–2580
Sinsabaugh RL, Linkins AE (1989) Cellulase mobility in decomposing leaf litter. Soil Biol Biochem 21:205–209
Sardans J, Peñuelas J, Estiarte M (2008) Changes in soil enzymes related to C and N cycle and in soil C and N content under pro-longed warming and drought in a Mediterranean shrub land. Appl Soil Ecol 39:223–235
Sinsabaugh RL (1994) Enzymic analysis of microbial pattern and process. Biol Fertil Soils 17:69–74
Shi ZJ, Lu Y, Xu ZG, Fu SL (2008) Enzyme activities of urban soils under different land use in the Shenzhen city. China Plant Soil Environ 54(8):341–346
Tabatabai MA (1994) Soil enzymes. In: Weaver RW, Angle JS, Bottomley PS (eds) Methods of soil analysis. Part 2. Microbiological and biochemical properties, 3rd edn. Soil Sci Soc Am J, Madison, pp 775–883
Trasar-Cepeda C, Leiros MC, Gil-Sotres F (2000) Biochemical properties of acid soils under climax vegetation (Atlantic Oakwood) in an area of the European temperate-humid zone (Galicia, NW Spain): specific parameters. Soil Biol Biochem 32:747–755
Taylor JP, Wilson B, Mills MS, Burns RG (2002) Comparison of microbial numbers and enzymatic activities in surface soils and subsoil’s using various techniques. Soil Biol Biochem 34:387–401
Torresa PA, Abrila AB, Buche EH (2005) Microbial succession in litter decomposition in the semi-arid chaco Woodland. Soil Biol Biochem 37:49–54
Walkley A, Black IA (1934) An examination of Degtjareff method for determining soil organic matter, and a proposed modification of the chromic acid titration method. Soil Sci 37:29–38
Waldrop MP, Balser TC, Firestone MK (2000) Linking microbial community composition to function in a tropical soil. Soil Biol Biochem 32:1837–1846
Wean MP, Arthur MA, Lovett GM, Mc Culley RL, Weathers KC (2010) Effects of tree species and N additions on forest floor microbial communities and extracellular enzyme activities. Soil Biol Biochem 42:2161–2173
Wang S, Ruan H, Han Y (2010) Effects of microclimate, leaf litter type, and mesh size on leaf litter decomposition along an elevation gradient in the Wuyi Mountains, China. Ecol Res 25:1113–1120
Zaman M, Cameron KC, Di HJ, Inubushi K (2002) Changes in mineral N, microbial and enzyme activities in different soil depths after applications of dairy shed effluent and chemical fertilizer. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 63:275–290
Zhang R, Sun Z, Wang C, Yuan T (2009) Ecological process of leaf litter decomposition in tropical rainforest in Xishuangbanna, southwest China. III. Enzyme dynamics. Front For China 4(1):28–37
Zhang YM, Wu N, Zhou GY, Bao WK (2005) Changes in enzyme activities of spruce (Picea balfouriana) forest soil as related to burning in the eastern Qinghai Tibetan Plateau. Appl Soil Ecol 30:215–225
Acknowledgements
Both the authors want to express their sincere thanks to the Chief District Forest Officer and all the staff members of Ramna Forest, Burdwan, WB. Authors also declared that the present work was conducted with their own fund, and the laboratory facility was taken from the Department of Environmental Science, Burdwan University, West Bengal, India.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Das, C., Mondal, N.K. Temporal and Vertical Variation of Selected Extracellular Enzyme Activities on Tree Litter Degradation of a Subtropical Forest. Agric Res 8, 84–91 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40003-018-0353-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40003-018-0353-3