Soil ecoenzymatic stoichiometry and microbial resource limitation driven by thinning practices and season types in Larix principis-rupprechtii plantations in North China

• Published in: Forest ecology and management 2021-02, Vol.482, p.118880, Article 118880
• Main Authors: Qiu, Xincai, Peng, Daoli, Tian, Huixia, Wang, Haibin, Liu, Xin, Cao, Lin, Li, Zhe, Cheng, Shun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ecoenzymatic activity and stoichiometry; Microbial resource limitation; Nutrient-dependent; Seasonal variation; Thinning effect; Threshold elemental ratio
• ISSN: 0378-1127; 1872-7042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118880

•Soil EES indicate microbial nutritional status and resource limitations.•Thinning and seasonal changes affect ecoenzymes and microbial metabolism in the soil.•Differences in soil EEA and EES may be related to the variations in soil properties, especially soil nutrients and microbial biomass.•Soil microbial metabolism was limited by N in Larix principis-rupprechtii plantations. The extracellular ecoenzymatic stoichiometry (EES) of the soil are key indicators of the nutritional status and relative resource limitations of microbes that play important roles in biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem functions. However, our knowledge of the effects of forest thinning and the seasons on the variability of extracellular ecoenzymatic activities (EEA) and EES in the soil is limited. We examined the soils from Larix principis-rupprechtii plantations after nine years of treatments with four different thinning intensities (i.e., control (CK), low thinning (LT), moderate thinning (MT), and high thinning (HT)) in four different seasons. We measured the activities of one carbon (C) acquiring enzyme (β-1,4-glucosidase (BG)), two nitrogen (N) acquiring enzymes (β-1,4-N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG), leucine aminopeptidase (LAP)), and one phosphorus (P) acquiring enzyme (acid phosphatase (AP)), and examined potential factors (soil environment, nutrients, and microbial biomass) that may influence the activities of these enzymes. Our results showed that thinning significantly (p