Cargando…

Human-induced land use changes and phosphorus limitation affect soil microbial biomass and ecosystem stoichiometry

Soil and microbial biomass carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) play an important role in soil nutrient dynamics in biogeochemical cycles of terrestrial ecosystems. However, increased human activities as a result of agricultural intensification on soil nutrients and microbial C:N:P stoichiom...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Awoonor, Johnny Kofi, Dogbey, Bright Fafali, Salis, Ibrahim
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10468095/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37647326
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290687
_version_ 1785099172154703872
author Awoonor, Johnny Kofi
Dogbey, Bright Fafali
Salis, Ibrahim
author_facet Awoonor, Johnny Kofi
Dogbey, Bright Fafali
Salis, Ibrahim
author_sort Awoonor, Johnny Kofi
collection PubMed
description Soil and microbial biomass carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) play an important role in soil nutrient dynamics in biogeochemical cycles of terrestrial ecosystems. However, increased human activities as a result of agricultural intensification on soil nutrients and microbial C:N:P stoichiometry are poorly understood in this fragile forest-savanna transition agroecosystem. This study aimed to (i) assess soil and microbial C, N, and P stoichiometry in different land use systems, and (ii) examine the effect of soil and microbial C, N, and P stoichiometry on soils susceptible to human-induced land use changes. A total of 82 composite soil samples at a depth of 0–20 cm were sampled from forest, savanna, grassland, fallow and cropland for laboratory analysis. The results revealed that the concentrations of C, N, and P were low in Fallow and Cropland compared to other land use systems. Analysis of variance in microbial C, N, and P stoichiometric ratios revealed a significant decreasing tendency compared to soil C:N, C:P and N:P ratios with no statistical significance (p < 0.05). The C:P and N:P ratios were low compared to the C:N ratio in land uses. A significant positive correlation was observed between MBC and MBN (0.95; p < 0.01), and with C and N (0.69; p < 0.01). There were significant interactive effects of land use on soil and microbial variables. The estimated microbial C:N:P stoichiometric ratios (21:2:1) were well constrained in the study area. The transition from Forest to Cropland resulted in 64%, 52%, and 71% reduction in C, N, and P, respectively. This implies that phosphorus is the main factor limiting productivity. The low availability of phosphorus in these tropical soils may have resulted in low C:P and N:P ratios. Therefore, we conclude that our results highlight the importance of phosphorus limitation on ratios of microbial C:P and N:P in landuse systems. Nutrient inputs such as fertilizers, manure and crop residues should be applied to croplands to improve soil and microbial C, N and P levels. Further, effects of land use on soil nutrient status and stoichiometry at 1-meter depth will be considered in our future work.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-10468095
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2023
publisher Public Library of Science
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-104680952023-08-31 Human-induced land use changes and phosphorus limitation affect soil microbial biomass and ecosystem stoichiometry Awoonor, Johnny Kofi Dogbey, Bright Fafali Salis, Ibrahim PLoS One Research Article Soil and microbial biomass carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) play an important role in soil nutrient dynamics in biogeochemical cycles of terrestrial ecosystems. However, increased human activities as a result of agricultural intensification on soil nutrients and microbial C:N:P stoichiometry are poorly understood in this fragile forest-savanna transition agroecosystem. This study aimed to (i) assess soil and microbial C, N, and P stoichiometry in different land use systems, and (ii) examine the effect of soil and microbial C, N, and P stoichiometry on soils susceptible to human-induced land use changes. A total of 82 composite soil samples at a depth of 0–20 cm were sampled from forest, savanna, grassland, fallow and cropland for laboratory analysis. The results revealed that the concentrations of C, N, and P were low in Fallow and Cropland compared to other land use systems. Analysis of variance in microbial C, N, and P stoichiometric ratios revealed a significant decreasing tendency compared to soil C:N, C:P and N:P ratios with no statistical significance (p < 0.05). The C:P and N:P ratios were low compared to the C:N ratio in land uses. A significant positive correlation was observed between MBC and MBN (0.95; p < 0.01), and with C and N (0.69; p < 0.01). There were significant interactive effects of land use on soil and microbial variables. The estimated microbial C:N:P stoichiometric ratios (21:2:1) were well constrained in the study area. The transition from Forest to Cropland resulted in 64%, 52%, and 71% reduction in C, N, and P, respectively. This implies that phosphorus is the main factor limiting productivity. The low availability of phosphorus in these tropical soils may have resulted in low C:P and N:P ratios. Therefore, we conclude that our results highlight the importance of phosphorus limitation on ratios of microbial C:P and N:P in landuse systems. Nutrient inputs such as fertilizers, manure and crop residues should be applied to croplands to improve soil and microbial C, N and P levels. Further, effects of land use on soil nutrient status and stoichiometry at 1-meter depth will be considered in our future work. Public Library of Science 2023-08-30 /pmc/articles/PMC10468095/ /pubmed/37647326 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290687 Text en © 2023 Awoonor et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Awoonor, Johnny Kofi
Dogbey, Bright Fafali
Salis, Ibrahim
Human-induced land use changes and phosphorus limitation affect soil microbial biomass and ecosystem stoichiometry
title Human-induced land use changes and phosphorus limitation affect soil microbial biomass and ecosystem stoichiometry
title_full Human-induced land use changes and phosphorus limitation affect soil microbial biomass and ecosystem stoichiometry
title_fullStr Human-induced land use changes and phosphorus limitation affect soil microbial biomass and ecosystem stoichiometry
title_full_unstemmed Human-induced land use changes and phosphorus limitation affect soil microbial biomass and ecosystem stoichiometry
title_short Human-induced land use changes and phosphorus limitation affect soil microbial biomass and ecosystem stoichiometry
title_sort human-induced land use changes and phosphorus limitation affect soil microbial biomass and ecosystem stoichiometry
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10468095/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37647326
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290687
work_keys_str_mv AT awoonorjohnnykofi humaninducedlandusechangesandphosphoruslimitationaffectsoilmicrobialbiomassandecosystemstoichiometry
AT dogbeybrightfafali humaninducedlandusechangesandphosphoruslimitationaffectsoilmicrobialbiomassandecosystemstoichiometry
AT salisibrahim humaninducedlandusechangesandphosphoruslimitationaffectsoilmicrobialbiomassandecosystemstoichiometry