TY - JOUR
T1 - Soil microbial activity is resistant to recreational camping disturbance in a Prosopis dominated semiarid savanna
AU - Kariuki, Sudan
AU - Gallery, Rachel E.
AU - Sparks, Jed P.
AU - Gimblett, Randy
AU - McClaran, Mitchel P.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2020/3
Y1 - 2020/3
N2 - Recreational camping has been shown to suppress plant cover and expand bare ground area. These shifts have important implications for soil health. We used campsites in a semiarid savanna at the Santa Rita Experimental Range (SRER) in Arizona to test the hypotheses that 1) recreational camping is a disturbance that limits plant cover and soil microbial activity, and 2) the presence of Prosopis, which is known to encourage a fertility island effect, increases soil microbial activity within campsites. Camping disturbance did not influence any sampled measures of edaphic properties, plant cover, or soil microbial biomass and exoenzyme activities. However, the presence of Prosopis resulted in elevated litter, total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), and dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Multiple linear regression models suggest that observed resistance of soil microbial activities to camping disturbance may be due to both increased availability of organic C and N substrates beneath Prosopis and heightened seasonal water availability.
AB - Recreational camping has been shown to suppress plant cover and expand bare ground area. These shifts have important implications for soil health. We used campsites in a semiarid savanna at the Santa Rita Experimental Range (SRER) in Arizona to test the hypotheses that 1) recreational camping is a disturbance that limits plant cover and soil microbial activity, and 2) the presence of Prosopis, which is known to encourage a fertility island effect, increases soil microbial activity within campsites. Camping disturbance did not influence any sampled measures of edaphic properties, plant cover, or soil microbial biomass and exoenzyme activities. However, the presence of Prosopis resulted in elevated litter, total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), and dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Multiple linear regression models suggest that observed resistance of soil microbial activities to camping disturbance may be due to both increased availability of organic C and N substrates beneath Prosopis and heightened seasonal water availability.
KW - Biogeochemistry
KW - Extracellular enzyme activity (EEA)
KW - Fertility island
KW - Microbial biomass
KW - Nitrogen
KW - Recreation impact
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U2 - 10.1016/j.apsoil.2019.103424
DO - 10.1016/j.apsoil.2019.103424
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85075437367
SN - 0929-1393
VL - 147
JO - Applied Soil Ecology
JF - Applied Soil Ecology
M1 - 103424
ER -