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Changes of soil chemical properties, microbial biomass and enzymatic activities along a gradient of forest degradation in logged over tropical rain forests, Borneo

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of our study was to investigate soil chemical properties, soil microbial biomass and soil enzyme activities in a gradient of forest degradation in logged over tropical rain forests, Borneo. We hypothesized that the changes of above-ground vegetation could affect soil organic matter, which further influenced soil microbial biomass and enzyme activities.

Methods

A total of 35 forest plots with varying magnitude of logging influences were investigated for vegetation composition and soil parameters. The 35 plots were sorted based on tree genus compositions by a Principal Co-ordinates analysis (PCoA) and PCoA axis-1 values represented a gradient of forest degradation. Soil physicochemical properties, microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen, and four extracellular enzymes were measured.

Results

Linear regression analyses showed that soil organic carbon and total nitrogen concentrations decreased with decreasing PCoA axis-1 values (i.e., increasing magnitude of degradation), while soil pH values increased. Soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen, and the activities of four extracellular enzymes all decreased with decreasing PCoA axis-1 values. The activities of four enzymes were correlated with soil microbial biomass. Structural equation modeling showed that soil organic carbon explained the greatest variation of soil microbial biomass.

Conclusion

Above-ground forest degradation directly affects soil organic matter, which then affects soil microbial biomass. The combined actions of reduced microbial biomass and reduced soil organic matter as the substrate for the enzymes decrease microbial enzyme activities during the process of forest degradation. These changes may in turn feed back to the regrowth or succession of degraded forest ecosystems.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due the datasets are still used in unpublished studies, but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the kind assistance from Sabah Forestry Department and Forest Research Centre for conducting this study. Dr. Yoshimi Sawada assisted fieldworks. Ms. Mayu Sasaki assisted laboratory analyses. Research licenses was granted from Sabah Biodiversity Centre to KK (JKM/MBS.1000-2/2 JLD.7 (177)). This research was supported by the United Nations University GGS Project Fund to KK, and by the MEXT/JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 18KK0206.

Funding

Author Kanehiro Kitayama has received financial support was provided by United Nations University GGS Project Fund. Author Kanehiro Kitayama has received financial support was provided by MEXT/JSPS KAKENHI (Grant numbers [18KK0206]).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Agriculture Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa Oiwake-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan

    Linzi Jiang & Kanehiro Kitayama

  2. Hakubi Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Masayuki Ushio

  3. Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Otsu, Shiga, 520-2113, Japan

    Masayuki Ushio

  4. Department of Ocean Science, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, SAR, China

    Masayuki Ushio

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  1. Linzi Jiang
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, collection and analysis were performed by Linzi Jiang. Some methodologies were performed by Masayuki Ushio. The funding acquisition, supervision and project administration were performed by Kanehiro Kitayama. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Linzi Jiang and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Linzi Jiang.

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Jiang, L., Ushio, M. & Kitayama, K. Changes of soil chemical properties, microbial biomass and enzymatic activities along a gradient of forest degradation in logged over tropical rain forests, Borneo. Plant Soil 485, 525–536 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05848-w

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