Responses of soil microorganisms to land use in different soil types along the soil profiles

Abstract

The objective of this study was to find out how land use affects the soil microbial attributes in different soil types and to which depth. The study was performed in Slovakia (Europe) in three areas differing in soil type (Chernozem, Stagnosol, Cambisol). Within each area, three localities with different land use (forest, grassland, cropland), representing a gradient with different intensity of management, were chosen. The soil samples were taken along a single soil profile up to a depth of 1 m with 10 cm increments at each locality. In the soil samples, the basic soil chemical properties and microbial attributes were determined. The effect of the land use on the microbial biomass and basal respiration was mainly observed in the Chernozem in the top 30 cm, while in the Stagnosol, no difference in the trend in the microbial biomass between the different ecosystems along the soil profile was found. The N-mineralisation reflected the different management practices especially in the Cambisol in the top 20 cm. The most distinct differences in the catalase activity between the soils differing in land use were found in the Cambisol along the whole profile. The richness and diversity of the functional groups did not differ significantly between the soils with the different land use and also no uniform responses of the functional groups composition to the land use were observed. The microbial biomass and activity were mainly affected by the amount of the soil organic matter; the intensity of the impact differed according to the soil type.