Meta-analysis of experimental warming on soil invertase and urease activities

Abstract

Soil enzymes are regulate terrestrial carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles, and how the activity of these enzymes are affected by soil warming duration is unclear. In the study, the effect of experimental soil warming duration (2 years) on invertase and urease activities were examined by meta-analysis. Soil warming increased invertase activity by 22% (2 years), respectively, while they increased urease by 29% and 9%. Meta-analysis of soil warming experiments found that warming by less than 1.5°C increased invertase by 22%, while warming it by more than 1.5°C increased invertase by 29%; the corresponding increases in urease were 16% and 8%. These effects of experiment warming differed among ecosystem types, with warming-induced increases being greatest in forest ecosystem. The results of this meta-analysis suggest that invertase and urease become less responsive to warming over longer periods and invertase with greater warming-responsiveness than urease activity.

Keywords

• soil enzyme activity
• soil warming
• carbon cycles
• nitrogen pool