Contrasting responses of soil microbial biomass and extracellular enzyme activity along an elevation gradient on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

ABSTRACT: Soil microbial community composition and extracellular enzyme activity are two main drivers of biogeochemical cycling. Knowledge about their elevational patterns is of great importance for predicting ecosystem functioning in response to climate change. Nevertheless, there is no consensus on how soil microbial community composition and extracellular enzyme activity vary with elevation, and little is known about their elevational variations on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, a region sensitive to global change. We therefore investigated the soil microbial community composition using phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) analysis, and enzyme activities at 2,820 m (coniferous and broadleaved mixed forest), 3,160 m (dark coniferous forest), 3,420 m (alpine dwarf forest), and 4,280 m (alpine shr

SUBMITTER: Liu S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9889656 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature