Changes
in Soil Carbon Fractions and Enzyme Activities Under Different
Vegetation Types of the Northern Loess Plateau
Haiyan Wang1 and Jiangqi Wu1, Guang
Li1,* Lijuan Yan2
1College of Forestry, Gansu Agricultural University,
Lanzhou, 730070, China.
2College of Agriculture, Gansu Agricultural
University, Lanzhou, 730070, China.
*Correspondence: liggsau@foxmail.com.
Abstract: Restoring
vegetation can effectively reduce soil erosion and significantly improve
soil properties and quality. To analyze the response of soil organic
carbon components and related enzymes to different vegetation types in
the northern Loess Plateau, we collected soil samples of four vegetation
types: Xanthoceras sorbifolia (XS), Hippophae rhamnoides(HR), Caragana korshinskii (CK), and Grassland (GL). We used
these samples to analyze the organic carbon components (i.e., soil
organic carbon (SOC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), easily oxidized
carbon (EOC), particulate organic carbon (POC)) and enzyme activities
(i.e., amylase, catalase, urease and sucrase). We found that the content
of the SOC fractions and the enzyme activities was greater in the upper
layer than in the lower layer for each vegetation
type
except
for MBC and catalase activity, where we observed no significant
difference between soil layers. The EOC and amylase of GL vegetation
were significantly higher than in other vegetation types. POC, SOC,
urease and sucrase were considerably higher in SX vegetation than in
other vegetation types. The maximum soil MBC content was found in HR
vegetation, and among the four vegetation types, MBC content varied
significantly differences in the lower layer, but no significant
difference was observed in the surface soil. Correlation analysis
demonstrated that the MBC content significantly influenced urease and
sucrase activities, and that SOC significantly influenced urease and
sucrase activities. These results emphasize the importance of the
organic components of soil and the activities of soil enzymes in
different kinds of vegetation in the Loess Plateau, providing a basis
for improving the sustainable restoration of vegetative ecosystems.
Keywords:Vegetation
types; Soil organic carbon components; Enzyme Activities; Loess Plateau