Historical tillage promotes grass-legume mixtures establishment and accelerates soil microbial activity and organic carbon decomposition

Perennial grass-legume mixtures have been extensively used to restore degraded grasslands,increasing grassland productivity and forage quality.Tillage is crucial for seedbed preparation and sustainable weed management for the establishment of grass-legume mixtures.However,a common concern is that intensive tillage may alter soil characteristics,leading to losses in soil organic carbon(SOC).We investigated the plant community composition,SOC,soil microbial biomass carbon(MBC),soil enzyme activities,and soil properties in long-term perennial grass-legume mixtures under two different tillage intensities(once and twice)as well as in a fenced grassland(FG).The establishment of grass-legume mixtures increased plant species diversity and plant community coverage,compared with FG.Compared with once tilled grassland(OTG),twice tilled grassland(TTG)enhanced the coverage of high-quality leguminous forage species by 380.3%.Grass-legume mixtures with historical tillage decreased SOC and dissolved organic carbon(DOC)concentrations,whereas soil MBC concentrations in OTG and TTG increased by 16.0%and 16.4%,respectively,compared with FG.TTG significantly decreased the activity of N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase(NAG)by 72.3%,whereas soil enzymeβ-glucosidase(βG)in OTG and TTG increased by 55.9%and 27.3%,respectively,compared with FG.Correlation analysis indicated a close association of the increase in MBC andβG activities with the rapid decline in SOC.This result suggested that MBC was a key driving factor in soil carbon storage dynamics,potentially accelerating soil carbon cycling and facilitating biogeochemical cycling.The establishment of grass-legume mixtures effectively improves forage quality and boosts plant diversity,thereby facilitating the restoration of degraded grasslands.Although tillage assists in establishing legume-grass mixtures by controlling weeds,it accelerates microbial activity and organic carbon decomposition.Our findings provide a foundation for understanding the process and effectiveness of restoration management in degraded grasslands.

Land Use Effects on Soil Organic Carbon, Microbial Biomass and Microbial Activity in Changbai Mountains of Northeast China

Land use changes are known to alter soil organic carbon （SOC） and microbial properties, however, information about how conversion of natural forest to agricultural land use as well as plantations affects SOC and microbial properties in the Changbai Moun- tains of Northeast China is meager. Soil carbon content, microbial biomass carbon （MBC）, basal respiration and soil carbon mineraliza- tion were studied in five selected types of land use： natural old-growth broad-leaved Korean pine mixed forest （NF）; spruce plantation （SP） established following clear-cutting of NF; cropland （CL）; ginseng farmland （GF） previously under NF; and a five-year Mongolian oak young forest （YF） reforested on an abandoned GF, in the Changbai Mountains of Northeast China in 2011. Results showed that SOC content was significantly lower in SP, CL, GF, and YF than in NF. MBC ranged from 304.4 mg/kg in CL to 1350.3 mg/kg in NF, which was significantly higher in the soil of NF than any soil of the other four land use types. The SOC and MBC contents were higher in SP soil than in CL, GF, and YF soils, yielding a significant difference between SP and CL. The value of basal respiration was also higher in NF than in SP, CL, GF, and YF. Simultaneously, higher values of the metabolic quotient were detected in CL, GF, and YF soils, indicat- ing low substrate utilization of the soil microbial community compared with that in NF and SP soil. The values of cumulative mineral- ized carbon and potentially mineralized carbon （Co） in NF were significantly higher than those in CL and GF, while no significant dif- ference was observed between NF and SP. In addition, YF had higher values of Co and C mineralization rate compared with GF. The results indicate that conversion from NF into agricultural land （CL and GF） uses and plantation may lead to a reduction in soil nutrients （SOC and MBC） and substrate utilization efficiency of the microbial community. By contrast, soils below SP were more conducive to the preservation of soil organic matter, which was reflected in the comparison of microbial indicators among CL, GF, and YF land uses. This study can provide data for evaluating soils nutrients under different land use types, and serve as references for the rational land use of natural forest in the study area.

Impact of pH on Microbial Biomass Carbon and Microbial Biomass Phosphorus in Red Soils

The impact of pH changes on microbial biomass carbon (Cmic) and microbial biomass phosphorus (Pmic)were examined for 3 red soils under citrus production with different lengths of cultivation. Soil pH significantly affected Cmic and Pmic. The Cmic and Pmic changes, as a function of soil pH, appeared to follow a normal distribution with the original soil pH value at the apex and as pH increased or decreased compared to the original soil pH, Cmic and Pmic declined. Moreover, there were critical pH values at both extremes (3.0 on the acidic side and 8.0 to 8.5 on the alkaline side), beyond which most of microorganisms could never survive.The effect of pH on Cmic and Pmic was also related to the original soil pH. The higher the original soil pH was, the less Cmic or Pmic were affected by pH change. It is suggested that soil microorganisms that grow in a soil environment with a more neutral soil pH range (I.e. pH 5.5-7.5) may have a greater tolerance to pH changes than those growing in more acidic or more alkaline soil pH conditions.

Microbial Biomass Carbon and Total Organic Carbon of Soils as Affected by Rubber Cultivation

Soil samples were collected from different rubber fields in twenty-five plotsselected randomly in the Experimental Farm of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agriculture Scienceslocated in Hainan, China, to analyse the ecological effect of rubber cultivation. The results showedthat in the tropical rubber farm, soil microbial biomass C (MBC) and total organic C (TOC) wererelatively low in the content but highly correlated with each other. After rubber tapping, soil MBCof mature rubber fields decreased significantly, by 55.5 percent. compared with immature rubberfields. Soil TOC also decreased but the difference was not significant. Ratios of MBC to TOCdecreased significantly. The decreasing trend of MBC stopped at about ten years of rubbercultivation. After this period, soil MBC increased relatively while soil TOC still kept indecreasing. Soil MBC changes could be measured to predict the tendency of soil organic matterchanges due to management practices in a tropical rubber farm several years before the changes insoil TOC become detectable.

Effect of Different Irrigation Methods on Dissolved Organic Carbon and Microbial Biomass Carbon in the Greenhouse Soil

The objective of this study was to investigate the contents and distribution of dissolved organic carbon （DOC） and microbial biomass carbon （MBC） at 0-100 cm soil depth under three irrigation treatments, viz., subsurface, drip and furrow irrigation in the greenhouse soil. The soil samples were collected at different depths （0-100 cm）, and the contents of soil total organic carbon （TOC）, DOC and MBC were analysed. The experiment was conducted for 10 yr, during which period the application of fertilizers and crop management practices were kept identical. The results showed that the contents of TOC, DOC and MBC were significantly affected by different irrigation regimes, decreased with the increase of soil depth. TOC at 0-10 and 80-100 cm soil depths followed the order of furrow irrigation 〉 subsurface irrigation 〉 drip irrigation, whereas at the depth of 10-80 cm followed the order of subsurface irrigation 〉 furrow irrigation 〉 drip irrigation. DOC and MBC contents at 0-100 cm soil depths followed the order of furrow irrigation 〉 drip irrigation 〉 subsurface irrigation, and drip irrigation 〉 furrow irrigation 〉 subsurface irrigation, respectively. The ratios of DOC and MBC to TOC accounted for 4.98-12.87% and 1.48-2.82%, respectively, which were the highest in the drip irrigation treatment, followed were in the furrow irrigation treatment, and the lowest in subsurface irrigation treatment. There were significant positive correlations among the contents of DOC, MBC and TOC in all irrigation treatments. The furrow irrigation facilitated the accumulation of TOC and DOC, while drip irrigation increased the MBC. The content of TOC and the ratios of DOC to TOC were the lowest in subsurface irrigation treatment.

Bentonite-humic acid improves soil organic carbon,microbial biomass,enzyme activities and grain quality in a sandy soil cropped to maize(Zea mays L.) in a semi-arid region

A bentonite-humic acid(B-HA) mixture added to degraded soils may improve soil physical and hydraulic properties, due to effects such as improved soil structure and increased water and nutrient retention, but its effect on soil physicochemical and biological properties, and grain quality is largely unknown. The effect of B-HA, added at 30 Mg ha^(-1), was studied at 1,3, 5 and 7 years after its addition to a degraded sandy soil in a semi-arid region of China. The addition of B-HA significantly increased water-filled pore space and soil organic carbon, especially at 3 to 5 years after its soil addition to the soil. Amending the sandy soil with B-HA also increased the content of microbial biomass(MB)-carbon,-nitrogen and-phosphorus, and the activities of urease, invertase, catalase and alkaline phosphatase. The significant effect of maize(Zea mays L.) growth stage on soil MB and enzyme activities accounted for 58 and 84% of their total variation, respectively. In comparison, B-HA accounted for 8% of the total variability for each of the same two variables. B-HA significantly enhanced soil properties and the uptake of N and P by maize in semi-arid areas. The use of B-HA product would be an effective management strategy to reclaim degraded sandy soils and foster sustainable agriculture production in northeast China and regions of the world with similar soils and climate.

Seasonal variation in soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen in an artificial sand-binding vegetation area in Shapotou, northern China

In this study, seasonal variation characteristics of surface soil microbial biomass carbon （MBC） and soil microbial biomass nitrogen （MBN） of an artificial vegetation area located in Shapotou for different time periods were studied using the chloroform fumigation method, and the results were compared with those of near-natural vegetation areas and mobile dunes. Results showed that the MBC and MBN levels in the 0-5 cm soil layer were higher in autumn than in summer and spring. As the prolongation of vegetation restoration raised the MBC and MBN levels in summer and autumn, no clear variation was found in spring. However, the MBC and MBN in 5-20 cm had no obvious seasonal variation. During summer and autumn, the variation trend of MBC and MBN in the vertical direction was shown to be 0-5 〉 5-10 〉 10-20 cm in the vegetation area, while for mobile dunes, the MBC and MBN levels increased as the depth increased. The natural vegetation area was shown to possess the highest MBC and MBN levels, and yet mobile dunes have the lowest MBC and MBN levels. MBC and MBN levels in artificial sand-binding vegetation increased with the prolongation of vegetation restoration, indicating that the succession of sand-binding vegetation will result in the ac- cumulation of soil carbon and nitrogen, as well as the restoration of soil fertility.

Effects of Carbon and Nitrogen Additions on Soil Microbial Biomass Carbon and Enzyme Activities Under Rice Straw Returning

The effects of different amounts of carbon and nitrogen sources on the soil microbial biomass carbon,dissolved organic carbon and related enzyme activities were studied by the simulation experiment of rice straw returning to the field,and the mechanism of the decomposition of rice straw returning to the field was discussed.Completely randomized experiment of the two factors of the three levels was designed,and a total of nine treatments of indoor soil incubation tests were conducted.Full amount of rice straw was applied to the soil in this simulation experiment and different amounts of brown sugar and urea were added in the three levels of 0(no carbon source and nitrogen source),1(low levels of carbon and nitrogen sources)and 2(high levels of carbon and nitrogen sources),respectively.The results showed that the addition of different amounts of carbon and nitrogen sources to the rice straw could increase the soil carbon content.Compared with T0N0,the microbial biomass carbon of T2N2 was increased significantly by 170.48%;the dissolved organic carbon content of T1N2 was significantly increased by 58.14%and the free humic acid carbon contents of T0N2,T1N1 and T2N0 were significantly increased by 56.16%and 45.55%and 47.80%,respectively;however,there were no significant differences among those of treatments at later incubation periods.The addition of different carbon and nitrogen sources could promote the soil enzyme activities.During the incubation period,all of the soil enzyme activities of adding sugar and urea were higher than those of T0N0 treatment.Therefore,the addition of different amounts of carbon and nitrogen sources to rice straw returning could improve soil microbial biomass carbon content,dissolved organic carbon and soil enzyme activities.

Role of Biochar Amendment on Soil Carbon Mineralization and Microbial Biomass

To understand the influence of biochar properties (pyrolysis temperature and types) on soil physicochemical properties, we investigated the changes of soil organic carbon mineralization, nutrient contents and microbial biomass after 135 d incubation. Results showed that both corn straw (CB) and rice straw (RB) derived biochars increase the mineralization of organic carbon and nitrogen in the soil, and these biochars pyrolysised at 500?C (CB500, RB500) significantly enhanced the mineralization of soil organic nitrogen. In comparison with control treatment, the application of biochar significantly increased the contents of soil organic carbon, available P and K in soil. Moreover, the activity of soil microbe was enhanced with biochar amendment. Among all treatments, RB500 significantly increased the content of soil microbial biomass carbon (379 ± 9 mg?kg?1) in soil. Our results suggested that the application of biochars to soil improve soil quality, while the biochar type and pyrolysis temperature should be taken into consideration before its application in agro-ecosystem.

Influence of Salt Content on Soil Microbial Biomass Carbon

Soil salinization has become a global issue. Saline and alkaline arable land was taken as research object in this paper and four salt gradients were set(S1: 0.1%; S2:0. 5%; S3:0.9%; S4:1.3%). Through the addition of different substrates( CK: no addition of substrate; N: addition of nitrogen source; C: addition of glucose,C + N: addition of glucose and nitrogen source) to soil,it analyzed the influence of salt content on the soil microbial biomass carbon( SMBC) for the purpose of surveying the response mechanism of soil carbon turnover to salt stress. Results indicated that after addition of different substrates,the SMBC in high salt content(S3 and S4) is obviously lower than that in low salt content( S1 and S2). The decline rate of S3 and S4 is 5. 4% and 14. 2% for no addition of substrate; the decline rate is 9.0% and 24.0% for addition of nitrogen source; the decline rate is 11.5% and 28.0% for addition of carbon source; the decline rate is 19.5% and 39.5% for addition of carbon source + nitrogen source. Compared with no addition of substrates,addition of nitrogen source could not increase the SMBC. Addition of carbon source and carbon + nitrogen can significantly increase the SMBC,and the increase in low salt content soil( 80.0%- 81.0% and 58.0%- 59.0%) is obviously higher than high salt content soil( 52.0%- 69.0%and 34.0%- 50.0%). Generally,when the soil salt content is low( 0.5%),the influence of different substrate treatment is little on the SMBC,and increasing the soil salt content can obviously reduce the SMBC.

Effects of Different Land Cover Types on Soil Microbial Biomass Carbon and Nitrogen in the Lower Reaches of Niyang River

[Objectives]To comprehensively and deeply explore the effects of different land cover types in the lower reaches of Niyang River on soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen,and to provide a scientific basis for the rational use and sustainable management of land resources in this area.[Methods]Taking the 3 types of land cover(cultivated land,grass land and forest land)in the lower reaches of Niyang River in Tibet as the research object,the contents,distribution characteristics and relationships of soil organic carbon,organic nitrogen,microbial biomass carbon,microbial biomass nitrogen and readily oxidizable organic carbon,and their relationships were studied in 0-10,10-20,20-40,40-60,and 60-100 cm soil depth.[Results]The soil organic carbon content of forest land was higher than that of grass land and cultivated land;the vertical change trend of soil organic carbon content decreased with the increase of depth(P<0.05),and it was mainly concentrated in the soil with a depth of 0-20 cm.The soil organic carbon content was significantly different among forest land,grass land and cultivated land(P<0.05),but there was no significant difference between cultivated land and grass land(P>0.05).The soil organic nitrogen content was significantly different among cultivated land,grass land,and forest land(P<0.05),but there was no significant difference between grass land and forest land(P>0.05).The readily oxidizable organic carbon,microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen in forest land were higher than that in cultivated land and grass land.The change trend of soil readily oxidizable organic carbon,microbial biomass carbon and microbial biomass nitrogen was similar to the change of soil organic carbon content,showing a significant positive correlation.In addition to being subject to land cover,soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen content were also subject to the interaction of factors such as soil temperature,humidity,pH and vegetation types.[Conclusions]Changes in land cover significantly affect soil organic carbon and nitrogen,readily oxidizable organic carbon,microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen content.

Soil microbial biomass and its controls

Microbial biomass represents a relatively small standing stock of nutrients, compared to soil organic matter, but it can act as a labile source of nutrients for plants, a pathway for incorporation of organic matter into the soil, and a temporary sink for nutrients. This review describes several factors controlling the dynamics of soil microbial biomass. These factors mainly include organic carbon and nitrogen limitation, residue and nutrient management, differences in plant species, soil texture, soil moisture and temperature. On the basis of detailed analysis, it is reasonable that future research would be focused on the impact of land use change on soil MB in tropical and subtropical ecosystems.

Relationship Between Soil Microbial Biomass C and N and Mineralizable Nitrogen in Some Arable Soils on Loess Plateau

The chloroform fumigation-incubation method was used to measure the soil microbial biomass C (SMBC)and N (SMBN) in 16 loessial soils sampled from Ausai, Yongshou and Yangling in Shaanxi Province. The SMBC contents in the soils ranged from 75.9 to 301.0 μg Cg-1 with an average of 206.1 μg C g-1, accounting for 1.36%～6.24% of the total soil organic C with an average of 3.07%, and the SMBN contents from 0.51 to 68.40 μg N g-1 with an average of 29.4 μg N g-1, accounting for 0.20%～5.65% of the total N in the soils with an average of 3.36%. A close relationship was found between SMBC and SMBN, and they both were positively correlated with total organic C, total N, NaOH hydrolizable N and mineralizable N. These results confirmed that soil microbial biomass had a comparative role in nutrient cycles of soils.

Differences in Soil Microbial Biomass and Activity for Six Agroecosystems with a Management Disturbance Gradient

Different management practices in six agroecosystems located near Goldsboro, NC, USA were conducted including a successional field (SU), a plantation woodlot (WO), an integrated cropping system with animals (IN), an organic farming system (OR), and two cash-grain cropping systems employing either tillage (CT) or no-tillage (NT) to examine if and how microbial biomass and activity differ in response to alterations in disturbance intensity from six land management strategies. Results showed that soil microbial biomass and activity differed, with microbial activity in intermediately disturbed ecosystems (NT, OR, IN) being significantly higher (P ＜ 0.01) than systems with either high or low disturbance intensities. There was also a significant and a highly significant ecosystem effect from the treatments on microbial biomass C (MBC) (P ＜ 0.05) and on microbial activity (respiration) (P ＜ 0.01), respectively. Multiple comparisons of mean respiration rates distinctly separated the six ecosystem types into three groups: CT ＜ NT, SU and WO ＜ OR and IN.Thus, for detecting microbial response to disturbance changes these results indicated that the active component of the soil microbial community was a better indicator than total biomass.

Seasonal dynamics of soil microbial biomass C and N of Keteleeria fortunei var. cyclolepis forests with different ages

Soil microbial biomass is an important indicator to measure the dynamic changes of soil carbon pool.It is of great signifi cance to understand the dynamics of soil microbial biomass in plantation for rational management and cultivation of plantation.In order to explore the temporal dynamics and infl uencing factors of soil microbial biomass of Keteleeria fortunei var.cyclolepis at diff erent stand ages,the plantation of diff erent ages(young forest,5 years;middle-aged forest,22 years;mature forest,40 years)at the Guangxi Daguishan forest station of China were studied to examine the seasonal variation of their microbial biomass carbon(MBC)and microbial biomass nitrogen(MBN)by chloroform fumigation extraction method.It was found that among the forests of diff erent age,MBC and MBN diff ered signifi cantly in the 0–10 cm soil layer,and MBN diff ered signifi cantly in the 10–20 cm soil layer,but there was no signifi cant diff erence in MBC for the 10–20 cm soil layer or in either MBC or MBN for the 20–40 cm soil layer.With increasing maturity of the forest,MBC gradually decreased in the 0–10 cm soil layer and increased fi rstly and then decreased in the 10–20 cm and 20–40 cm soil layers,and MBN increased fi rstly and then decreased in all three soil layers.As the soil depth increased,both MBC and MBN gradually decreased for all three forests.The MBC and MBN basically had the same seasonal variation in all three soil layers of all three forests,i.e.,high in the summer and low in the winter.Correlation analysis showed that MBC was signifi cantly positively correlated with soil organic matter,total nitrogen,and soil moisture,whereas MBN was signifi cantly positively correlated with soil total nitrogen.It showed that soil moisture content was the main factor determining the variation of soil microbial biomass by Redundancy analysis.The results showed that the soil properties changed continuously as the young forest grew into the middle-aged forest,which increased soil microbial biomass and enriched the soil nutrients.However,the soil microbial biomass declined as the middle-age forest continued to grow,and the soil nutrients were reduced in the mature forest.

Soil resource availability impacts microbial response to organic carbon and inorganic nitrogen inputs

Impacts of newly added organic carbon （C） and inorganic nitrogen （N） on the microbial utilization of soil organic matter are important in determining the future C balance of terrestrial ecosystems. We examined microbial responses to cellulose and ammonium nitrate additions in three soils with very different C and N availability. These soils included an organic soil（ 14.2% total organic C, with extremely high extractable N and low labile C）, a forest soi1（4.7% total organic C, with high labile C and extremely low extractable N）, and a grassland soil（1.6% total organic C, with low extractable N and labile C）. While cellulose addition alone significantly enhanced microbial respiration and biomass C and N in the organic and grassland soils, it accelerated only the microbial respiration in the highly-N limited forest soil. These results indicated that when N was not limited, C addition enhanced soil respiration by stimulating both microbial growth and their metabolic activity, New C inputs lead to elevated C release in all three soils, and the magnitude of the enhancement was higher in the organic and grassland soils than the forest soil. The addition of cellulose plus N to the forest and grassland soils initially increased the microbial biomass and respiration rates, but decreased the rates as time progressed. Compared to cellulose addition alone, cellulose plus N additions increased the total C-released in the grassland soil, but not in the forest soil. The enhancement of total C- released induced by C and N addition was less than 50% of the added-C in the forest soil after 96 d of incubation, in contrast to 87.5% and 89.0% in the organic and grassland soils. These results indicate that indigenous soil C and N availability substantially impacts the allocation of organic C for microbial biomass growth and/or respiration, potentially regulating the turnover rates of the new organic C inputs.

Assessment of soil quality using soil organic carbon and total nitrogen and microbial properties in tropical agroecosystems

Assessment of soil quality is an invaluable tool in determining the sustainability and environmental impact of agricultural ecosystems. The study was conducted to assess the quality of the soils under arable cultivation, locally irri-gated and non-irrigated, forestry plantations of teak (Tectona grandis Lin.) and gmelina (Gme- lina arborea Roxb.), and cashew (Anacardium occidentale Lin.) plantation agro ecosystems using soil organic carbon (SOC), soil total ni-trogen (STN) and soil microbial biomass C (SMBC) and N (SMBN) at Minna in the southern Guinea savanna of Nigeria. Soil samples were collected from soil depths of 0-5 cm and 5-10 cm in all the agro ecosystems and analyzed for physical, chemical and biological properties. All the agro ecosystems had similar loamy soil texture at both depths. The soils have high fer-tility status in terms of available phosphorus and exchangeable calcium, magnesium and po- tassium. The irrigated arable land had significantly (P 6.6 suggesting fungal domination in all the agroecosystems. The forestry plantation soils had higher SMBC and SMBN as a per-centage of SOC and STN respectively than the cultivated arable land soils. Burning for clearing vegetation and poor stocking of forestry planta-tions may impair the quality of the soil. The study suggests that the locally irrigated agro- ecosystem soil seems to be of better quality than the other agroecosystem soils.

Linkage of microbial living communities and residues to soil organic carbon accumulation along a forest restoration gradient in southern China

Background:Forest restoration has been considered an effective method to increase soil organic carbon(SOC),whereas it remains unclear whether long-term forest restoration will continuously increase SOC.Such large uncertainties may be mainly due to the limited knowledge on how soil microorganisms will contribute to SOC accumulation over time.Methods:We simultaneously documented SOC,total phospholipid fatty acids(PLFAs),and amino sugars(AS)content across a forest restoration gradient with average stand ages of 14,49,70,and>90 years in southern China.Results:The SOC and AS continuously increased with stand age.The ratio of fungal PLFAs to bacterial PLFAs showed no change with stand age,while the ratio of fungal AS to bacterial AS significantly increased.The total microbial residue-carbon(AS-C)accounted for 0.95-1.66% in SOC across all forest restoration stages,with significantly higher in fungal residue-C(0.68-1.19%)than bacterial residue-C(0.05-0.11%).Furthermore,the contribution of total AS-C to SOC was positively correlated with clay content at 0-10 cm soil layer but negatively related to clay content at 10-20 cm soil layer.Conclusions:These findings highlight the significant contribution of AS-C to SOC accumulation along forest restoration stages,with divergent contributions from fungal residues and bacterial residues.Soil clay content with stand age significantly affects the divergent contributions of AS-C to SOC at two different soil layers.

The Fluxes of Organic C and N, and Microbial Biomass and Maize Yield in an Organically Manured Ultisol of the Guinea Savanna Agroecological Zone of Nigeria

Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of integrated use of agricultural wastes and a compound mineral fertilizer on the fluxes of soil nutrients. Agricultural wastes applied were: livestock manure (cow dung and poultry litter), shoots of Chromolaena odorata and Parkia biglosa (locust bean), Neem (Azadiracta inidca) seed powder/cake and melon shell. These materials were applied at zero (control), 100% (i.e. organic wastes applied at the recommended rates of 10 t/ha) and 70% of their recommended rates plus 30% of the recommended rate of the mineral fertilizer (NPK: 400 Kg/ha). Average values of soil organic carbon (SOC) were 1.94, 1.68, 1.36 and 1.38 for organic wastes alone, organic waste plus mineral fertilizer (NPK) and unamended control. Mineral N ( N plus N) pools were relatively high at 30 and 60 days after planting, and were significantly higher for organically amended soils (550) and wastes applied at reduced rates combined with 120 kg/ha mineral NPK (470) than the unamended control (277). Across sampling dates, SOC values were the highest in poultry manure and neem seed cake. The values of N plus exchangeable N which constitutes plant available nitrogen (PAN) were significantly higher for organically amended soils and wastes applied at reduced rates combined with 120 kg/ha mineral NPK than the unamended control. The % C microbial to C organic ratio was higher in organically amended soils. The temporal profile of SOC, NH4-N and NO3-N showed declines with time, the relationship was linear for SOC (Y = 0.18x + 1.07;R2 = 0.34), by a power function for N (Y = 48.084x-1.79;R2 = 0.91) and a polynomial function for NH4-N (Y = -28.75x + 130.65x - 57.25;R2 = 0.61). The time dynamics of microbial population (cfu) followed trends obtained for SOC.

Study on the Surface Soil Micro-biomass Carbon of Kinds of Vegetation Types in Dagu Estuary Wetland

A field experiment was carried out to explore surface soil mircro-biomass carbon （MBC）. The results showed that the difference of soil MBC was significant among three vegetation types in five sample spots in July. The order of surface soil MBC was： Aquaculture pond reed （sample 2）〉 reed of river bank （sample 5）〉 sea- plant（sample 5）〉 river flat（sample 4）〉 The alkaline（sample 1）. There is a very sig- nificant correlation among the soil MBC, the water content of soil and the content of organic matter. Among wetland plants, reed is kind of plant content of high ground biomass and below-ground biomass,especially the MBC planted in wetland is high- er, which shows that compared with common plants, reed is more conducive to the accumulation of soil MBC and has an important effect to wetland protecting and re- covery of function of ecosystem.