Effects of biological soil crusts on soil enzyme activities in revegetated areas of the Tengger Desert,China |
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Affiliation: | 1. Key Laboratory of Algal Biology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China;2. School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430072, China;3. School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Life Sciences, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China;1. Lehrstuhl für Bodenkunde, Department für Ökologie und Ökosystemmanagement, Wissenschaftszentrum Weihenstephan für Ernährung, Landnutzung und Umwelt, Technische Universität München, D-85350 Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany;2. Centrum für Energietechnologie Brandenburg e.V., Friedlieb-Runge-Strasse 3, D-03046 Cottbus, Germany;3. Department of Biogeochemistry, WSL, Swiss Federal Institute of Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Zürcherstr. 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland;4. Brandenburg University of Technology at Cottbus, Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Process Engineering, Central Analytical Laboratory, Konrad-Wachsmann-Allee 6, 03046 Cottbus, Germany;5. Chair of Soil Protection and Recultivation, Brandenburg University of Technology, Konrad-Wachsmann-Allee 6, D-03046 Cottbus, Germany;6. Institute for Advanced Study, Technische Universität München, Lichtenbergstrasse 2a, D-85748 Garching, Germany |
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Abstract: | Biological soil crusts (BSCs) cover up to 70% of the sparsely-vegetated areas in arid and semiarid regions throughout the world and play a vital role in dune stabilization in desert ecosystems. Soil enzyme activities could be used as significant bioindicators of soil recovery after sand burial. However, little is known about the relationship between BSCs and soil enzyme activities. The objective of this study was to determine whether BSCs could affect soil enzyme activities in revegetated areas of the Tengger Desert. The results showed that BSCs significantly promoted the activities of soil urease, invertase, catalase and dehydrogenase. The effects also varied with crust type and the elapsed time since sand dune stabilization. All the soil enzyme activities tested in this study were greater under moss crusts than under cyanobacteria–lichen crusts. The elapsed time since sand dune stabilization correlated positively with the four enzyme activities. The enzyme activities varied with soil depth and season, regardless of crust type. Cyanobacteria–lichen and moss crusts significantly enhanced all test enzyme activities in the 0–20 cm soil layer, but negatively correlated with soil depth. All four enzyme activities were greater in the summer and autumn than in spring and winter due to the vigorous growth of the crusts. Our study demonstrated that the colonization and development of BSCs could improve soil quality and promote soil recovery in degraded areas of the Tengger Desert. |
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Keywords: | Biological soil crusts Crust type Elapsed time since dune stabilization Season Soil depth Soil enzyme activities |
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