Ground cover management enhances soil extracellular enzyme activities across Chinese orchards

Weiting Ding; Liangjie Sun; Mengyang Wang; Zhidong Qi; Shaohua Wang; Chengwei Zheng; Francis Zvomuya; Hailong He

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.123425

Ground cover management enhances soil extracellular enzyme activities across Chinese orchards

J Environ Manage. 2024 Nov 22:372:123425. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.123425. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Weiting Ding¹, Liangjie Sun², Mengyang Wang³, Zhidong Qi⁴, Shaohua Wang⁵, Chengwei Zheng⁶, Francis Zvomuya⁷, Hailong He⁸

Affiliations

¹ College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China. Electronic address: weiting.ding@nwafu.edu.cn.
² College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China. Electronic address: liangjie.sun@nwafu.edu.cn.
³ College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China. Electronic address: mengyang.wang@nwafu.edu.cn.
⁴ College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China. Electronic address: zhidong.qi@nwafu.edu.cn.
⁵ College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China. Electronic address: 2023012215@nwafu.edu.cn.
⁶ College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China. Electronic address: kaltsit.z@nwafu.edu.cn.
⁷ Department of Soil Science, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Canada. Electronic address: francis.zvomuya@umanitoba.ca.
⁸ College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, 712100, China; Department of Soil Science, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Canada. Electronic address: hailong.he@hotmail.com.

PMID: 39579569
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.123425

Abstract

The impacts of ground cover management (GCM) on orchard soil properties have been extensively studied. However, the quantitative assessment of soil extracellular enzyme activities (EEAs) in mulch agriculture remains understudied. In this study, we investigated EEAs related to GCM to assess microbial metabolic activity, soil health, and nutrient status, based on 81 studies focusing on orchards in China. Our findings show that GCM significantly increases carbon acquisition (C-acq, 37%), nitrogen acquisition (N-acq, 34%), phosphorus acquisition (P-acq, 26%), and oxidative decomposition (OX, 14%) enzymes compared to continuous clean tillage. A subgroup analysis and a random forest model were conducted to further identify the effects and potential mechanisms through which soil EEAs respond to GCM in orchards under various moderators. The significant changes in EEAs induced by GCM vary with experimental and environmental factors. Tree age, climate conditions, and soil depth are the primary contributors to the variation in soil EEAs. Overall, our results suggest that the implementation of GCM positively affects EEAs, thereby enhancing microbe-mediated soil ecosystem functions and soil fertility. This meta-analysis provides comprehensive evidence of GCM-induced effects on hydrolase and oxidase activity, improving our understanding of the underlying mechanisms by which orchard mulching impacts soil nutrient cycling.

Keywords: Cover crops; Meta-analysis; Orchard; Soil extracellular enzyme activities.