Microbial Indices Related to Soil Carbon as Affected by Management Practices in Arid Forest and Agricultural Ecosystems

Abstract

A study was conducted to investigate how management affects soil carbon (C) pools, mineralization kinetics, and related microbiological properties. Soils were sampled from two sites in central Iran. At the Lordegan forest (LOR) site, soil under an oak forest was compared with its adjacent deforested counterpart. At the Fozveh Research Station (FRS) site, adjacent fields under alfalfa and tall fescue cropping were compared. At the LOR site, soil organic C (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), microbial biomass C (MBC), β-glucosidase activity (βG), and potentially mineralizable C (C₀) were significantly greater in the forest than in the deforested counterpart. At the FRS site, the soil cropped to alfalfa showed significantly greater values of SOC, TN, MBC, βG, and C₀ than that cropped to tall fescue. Overall, soil biodegradable C pools and related processes are largely affected by management practices in the semiarid to arid environments, confirming the role of management as a significant driver of soil C change.

Keywords:

• Arid environments
• biodegradable C
• management
• soil quality

Acknowledgment

The authors thank the Soil Science Center of Excellences, Isfahan University of Technology, for funding the project.