Effects of leguminous green manure–crop rotation on soil
enzyme activity and stoichiometry

doi:10.1093/jpe/rtae065

J Plant Ecol ›› Advance articles DOI:10.1093/jpe/rtae065

• Research Articles • Previous Articles

Effects of leguminous green manure–crop rotation on soil enzyme activity and stoichiometry

Meixia Liu¹, Zonghao Hu¹, Yi Fan¹, Bin Hua², Wei Yang¹, Shuang Pang¹, Rong Mao³, Yang Zhang³, Keyu Bai⁴, Carlo Fadda⁵, Paola De Santis⁵, Nadia Bergamini⁵, Aziza Usmankulova⁶, Buriyev Salimjan Samedjanovich⁷ and Ximei Zhang^1,*

¹Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
²College of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China

³College of Forestry, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China
⁴Alliance of Biodiversity International and CIAT, Beijing Office, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
⁵Research Centre Bioversity International, 00054 Maccarese (Fiumicino), Italy
⁶Institute of Microbiology of the Academy of Sciences, Tashkent 100128, Uzbekistan
⁷Research Institute of Environment and Nature Conservation Technologies of the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection, and Climate Change of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent 100043, Uzbekistan

^*Corresponding author. E-mail: zhangximei@caas.cn

Received:2024-03-07 Accepted:2024-07-08 Online:2024-07-26 Published:2024-12-01
Supported by:
Our study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U21A20188, 32071547), Double Thousand Plan of Jiangxi Province (jxsq2023102216), The Top Notch Young Talents Program (to X.Z.) of China and the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program (to X.Z.). Conflict of interest statement. The authors declare thatthey have no conflict of interest.

豆科绿肥-作物轮作对土壤酶活性及其化学计量比的影响

Abstract

Abstract: As a crucial strategy for sustainable agricultural production, green manure–crop rotation can regulate soil nutrient cycling and decrease the reliance on nitrogen fertilizers. However, we still lack a comprehensive understanding of the changes in soil eco-enzyme activities, microbial metabolism and nutrient limitations caused by leguminous green manure–crop rotation. Here, we conducted field experiments of leguminous green manure–crop rotation across China to analyze soil extracellular enzyme activities, specifically β-glucosidase (BG), N-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase (NAG), leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) and acid phosphatase (AP). The study revealed that long-term green manure–crop rotation increased carbon and nitrogen accumulation in farmland, with a significant average increase of 20.1% and 36.4% in BG, AP enzyme activities in topsoil, while showing a decrease in ln(NAG + LAP):ln(AP) ratios. The ratios of ln(BG):ln(NAG + LAP) and ln(NAG + LAP):ln(AP) in soil across various regions were typically below 1:1, indicating that soil microbial activity is more constrained by nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients rather than by carbon. Precipitation, temperature, soil total carbon (TC) and total nitrogen (TN) were identified as key environmental factors for extracellular enzyme activities and stoichiometric ratios. Our study highlights that the green manure–crop rotation alleviates nitrogen limitation while enhancing phosphorus limitation, and is closely related to the accumulation of TC and TN in the soil.

Key words: green manure, crop rotation, soil extracellular enzyme activity, stoichiometric ratio, nutrient

摘要：
绿肥-作物轮作作为可持续农业的重要策略，有助于调节土壤养分循环，减少氮肥依赖。然而，目前仍不清楚豆科绿肥作物轮作如何影响土壤生态酶活性、土壤微生物代谢以及土壤养分限制。为此，我们在中国不同地区开展了豆科绿肥-作物轮作的田间试验，以分析土壤胞外酶活性的变化，特别是β-葡萄糖苷酶(BG)、N-乙酰-β-d-氨基葡萄糖苷酶(NAG)、亮氨酸氨肽酶(LAP)和酸性磷酸酶(AP)。研究发现，长期绿肥-作物轮作增加了农田土壤碳和氮的积累，表层土壤BG、AP酶活性平均显著增加了20.1%和36.4%，而ln(NAG + LAP):ln(AP)比值显著降低。此外，不同地区土壤中ln(BG):ln(NAG + LAP)和ln(NAG + LAP):ln(AP)的比值整体低于1:1，这表明土壤微生物活性更多受土壤中氮和磷养分的限制而非碳制约。降水、温度、土壤总碳和总氮是影响土壤胞外酶活性及其化学计量比变化的关键环境因素。上述研究结果表明，绿肥-作物轮作在减轻土壤氮限制的同时增强了土壤磷限制，这与土壤中总碳和总氮的积累密切相关。

关键词: 绿肥, 轮作, 土壤胞外酶, 化学计量比, 养分

Meixia Liu, Zonghao Hu, Yi Fan, Bin Hua, Wei Yang, Shuang Pang, Rong Mao, Yang Zhang, Keyu Bai, Carlo Fadda, Paola De Santis, Nadia Bergamini, Aziza Usmankulova, Buriyev Salimjan Samedjanovich and Ximei Zhang. Effects of leguminous green manure–crop rotation on soil enzyme activity and stoichiometry[J]. J Plant Ecol, DOI: 10.1093/jpe/rtae065.

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Effects of leguminous green manure–crop rotation on soil enzyme activity and stoichiometry

豆科绿肥-作物轮作对土壤酶活性及其化学计量比的影响

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