The soil urease, invertase and phosphatase activities were strongly inhibited, but the basal soil respiration and microbial biomass carbon near the anode and cathode were significantly increased.
Basal soil respiration and specific microbial respiration (qCO2) were highest in oilseed rape/wheat fields, and microbial biomass was highest in cultural meadows.
To determine whether the basal soil was adequate for plant growth and within the organic farming range before the experiment, pH, organic matter, phosphate, potassium, calcium, magnesium, cation exchange capacity, and soil temperature were measured.
Microbiological parameters, such as basal soil respiration and dehydrogenase, urease, β-glucosidase, arylsulfatase, and acid and alkaline phosphatase activities were analyzed from soil samples amended with different amounts of sepiolite (0, 1, 2 and 5%).
A composite of soil indicators encompassing labile C, KMnO4-oxidizable C, non-labile and recalcitrant C, mineralizable C, basal soil respiration, and dehydrogenase activity could distinguish different land use systems.
A general amelioration of the soil microbial functions was also produced as shown by basal soil respiration and dehydrogenase and alkaline phosphatase activities, which attained increases of 25%, 138% and 42%, respectively, when soil was amended with 5% sepiolite.
With error in measurement incorporated, only basal area, soil association, and the interaction between forest groups and land use were important predictors (R2 = 0.57).
We then measured bacterial (leucine incorporation) and fungal (acetate in ergosterol incorporation) growth, basal respiration, soil microbial phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) composition, and concentration of dissolved organic carbon (DOC).
We calculated nematode community indices in five microhabitats to account for variability in basal resources/organic input (soils, mosses on soil, mosses on rocks, as well as mosses on the lower and the upper part of trees trunks).
Soil basal respiration (SBR) is broadly used as indicator of metal(loid) stress in polluted soils, although the correlation with toxicity gives in many cases contradictory results.
One year later, these effects were significant for both soil basal respiration and soil microbial biomass.
