Soil organic carbon is significantly associated with the pore geometry, microbial diversity and enzyme activity of the macro-aggregates under different land uses
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Rabbi, Sheikh MF
Zhang, Yaqi
Young, Iain M
Jones, Andrew R
Dennis, Paul G
Menzies, Neal W
Kopittke, Peter M
Dalal, Ram C
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Abstract
Microbial activity strongly influences the stabilization of soil organic matter (SOM), and is affected by the abiotic properties within soil aggregates, which tend to differ between land uses. Here, we assessed the effects of SOM and pore geometry on the diversity and activity of microbial communities within aggregates formed under different land uses (undisturbed, plantation, pasture, and cropping). X-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT) revealed that macro-aggregates (2–8 mm) of undisturbed soils were porous, highly-connected, and had 200% more macro-pores compared with those from pasture and cropping soils. While the macro-aggregates of undisturbed soils had greater soil organic carbon (SOC) contents and N-acetyl β-glucosaminidase, β-glucosidase, and phosphatase activities, those of cropped soils harboured more diverse bacterial communities. Organic carbon was positively associated with the porosity of the macro-aggregates, which was negatively associated with microbial diversity and positively associated with enzyme activity. Thus, the biophysical processes in macro-aggregates may be important for SOC stabilization within the macro-aggregates.
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Science of The Total Environment
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778
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Agriculture, land and farm management
Soil sciences
Microbial ecology
Enzymes
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Environmental Sciences
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
Land use
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Bhattacharyya, R; Rabbi, SMF; Zhang, Y; Young, IM; Jones, AR; Dennis, PG; Menzies, NW; Kopittke, PM; Dalal, RC, Soil organic carbon is significantly associated with the pore geometry, microbial diversity and enzyme activity of the macro-aggregates under different land uses, Science of The Total Environment, 2021, 778, pp. 146286