Vegetation Degradation of Guanshan Grassland Suppresses the Microbial Biomass and Activity of Soil

Abstract

Changes in vegetation influence the function of grassland ecosystems. A degradation of the vegetation type has been found from high to low altitudes in Guanshan grassland in the order of forest grassland (FG) qCO2) in April and July 2017. The results showed that vegetation types are important factors that obviously influence the above-mentioned soil microbial properties. The FG and SG had significantly higher soil microbial biomass, enzymatic activities, and BR than those of the HG, but markedly lower qCO2 (p qCO2 than the west slope. Conclusively, vegetation degradation has led to a decline in the soil microbial biomass and microbial activities, indicating the degradation of the Guanshan grassland ecosystem.

Keywords

• vegetation degradation
• soil microbial biomass
• soil enzymatic activities
• BR
• <i>q</i>CO₂
• Guanshan