Influence of organic material quality on carbon dynamics in the soil through soil microbial activities
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Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate soil microbial activity in response to carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) of organic materials under incubation conditions. The incubation experiment consisting of three treatments as follows: 1) untreated soil (control), 2) rice straw treated soil, and 3) biochar treated soil. The experiment was set up in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 3 replications. Results showed that the rice straw treated soil had the highest metabolic quotient (qCO2) (0.19-0.2 g/MBC/d) and microbial quotient (547 mg MBC/g soil C) but delivered the lowest MBC/MBN ratio (7.12), while the biochar treated soil resulted in the lowest qMic C (342 mg MBC/g soil C). This study found a positive relationship between the activities of B-glucosidase and microbial quotient C (qMic C) at the first phase of incubation (r = - 0.5828*) and indicates that the source of carbon is easily utilized by soil microbes in the initial stages of decomposition. Interestingly, at the later stage of incubation (days 42-63), there was a positive relationship between enzymes B-glucosidase and MBN (r = 0.6993**) and microbial quotient N (qMic N) (r = 0.5159*) (P < 0.05) and positive relationship between enzymes phenoloxidase and MBN (r = 0.6994**) and qMic N (r = 0.5159*). These relationships suggest that soil microbes can adjust the biosynthesis process according to the microbial N demand for the synthesis of carbon-cycling enzymes. This study shows that organic materials with carbon easily decomposed, such as rice straw, cause microbes to make use of low carbon, thus releasing high amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere. While biochar has high resistant decomposable C compounds, helping to store carbon in the soil for a longer time by inducing soil microbes to accumulate within the cells.
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