Importance of Considering Enzyme Degradation for Interpreting the Response of Soil Enzyme Activity to Nutrient Addition: Insights from a Field and Laboratory Study

Abstract

Soil enzyme activity can be affected by both production and degradation processes, as enzymes can be degraded by proteases. However, the impact of nutrient addition on enzyme activity is often solely attributed to changes in enzyme production without fully considering degradation. In this study, we demonstrate that the activities of β-1,4-glucosidase (BG), β-D-cellobiohydrolase (CBH), β-1,4-xylosidase (BX), and β-1,4-N-acetyl-glucosaminidase (NAG) in two tropical plantations exhibited comparable levels between nitrogen (N)- and phosphorus (P)-fertilized soils and the unfertilized control under field conditions. However, it was observed that the reduction in enzymatic activity was significantly higher in the fertilized soils during short-term laboratory incubation in the acacia plantation. Additionally, the eucalyptus plantation exhibited a similar tendency, although statistical significance was not achieved due to the high variance of the data. The results show that the interruption of the natural, continuous supply of organic matter or non-soil microbial-derived enzymes, which typically occurs under field conditions, leads to a more significant reduction in soil enzyme activities in fertilized soils compared to unfertilized control. This may be attributed to the higher abundance of protease in fertilized soils, resulting in faster enzyme degradation. Interestingly, P fertilization alone did not have a similar effect, indicating that N fertilization is likely the main cause of the larger decreases in enzyme activity during incubation in fertilized soils compared to unfertilized control soils, despite our study site being poor in P and rich in N. These findings highlight the importance of considering enzyme degradation when investigating material dynamics in forest ecosystems, including the impact of nutrient addition on enzyme activity, as enzyme production alone may not fully explain changes in soil enzyme activity.