Lagerlöf, Jan and Adolfsson, Lena and Börjesson, Gunnar and Ehlers, Knut and Palarès Vinyoles, Glòria
(2014).
Land-use intensification and agroforestry in the Kenyan highland: impacts on soil microbial community composition and functional capacity.
Applied soil ecology. 82
, 93-99
[Journal article]
![]() |
PDF
250kB |
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2014.05.015
Abstract
This study investigates microbial communities in soil from
sites under different land use in Kenya.
We sampled natural forest, forest plantations, agricultural
fields of agroforestry farms,agricultural fields
with traditional farming and eroded soil on the slopes of Mount Elgon,Kenya. We hypothesised that microbial decomposition capacity, biomass and diversity 1)decreases with intensified cultivation; and 2)can be restored by soil and land management in agroforestry.
Functional capacity of soil microbial communities was estimated by degradation of 31 substrates on Biolog EcoPlates™. Microbial community composition and biomass were
characterised by phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA)and microbial
C and N analyses. All 31 substrates were metabolised in
all studied soil types, i.e. functional diversity did not differ. However,both the substrate utilisation rates and the microbial biomass decreased with intensification of land use, and the biomass was positively correlated with organic matter content. Multivariate analysis of PLFA and Biolog EcoPlate™ data showed clear differences 25
between land uses, also indicated by different relative abundance of PLFA markers for certain microorganism groups.
In conclusion, our results show that vegetation and land use control the substrate utilisation capacity and microbial community composition and that functional capacity of depleted soils can be restored by active soil management, e.g. forest plantation. However, although 20 to 30 years of agroforestry farming practises did result in
improved soil microbiological and chemical conditions
of agricultural soil as compared to traditional agricultural
fields, the change was not statistically significant.
Authors/Creators: | Lagerlöf, Jan and Adolfsson, Lena and Börjesson, Gunnar and Ehlers, Knut and Palarès Vinyoles, Glòria |
---|---|
Title: | Land-use intensification and agroforestry in the Kenyan highland: impacts on soil microbial community composition and functional capacity |
Series/Journal: | Applied soil ecology (0929-1393) |
Year of publishing : | 2014 |
Volume: | 82 |
Page range: | 93-99 |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
ISSN: | 0929-1393 |
Language: | English |
Additional Information: | Projektnummer 2007-1472-8275-29 och 2009-1978 Projektnamn Soil fauna biodiversity and food web structure in contrasting agricultural systems in Kenya - effects of organic matter and disturbance regimes |
Publication Type: | Journal article |
Refereed: | Yes |
Article category: | Scientific peer reviewed |
Version: | Accepted version |
Full Text Status: | Public |
Agris subject categories.: | P Natural resources > P34 Soil biology |
Subjects: | (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 1 Natural sciences > 106 Biological Sciences (Medical to be 3 and Agricultural to be 4) > Microbiology (Microbiology in the medical area to be 30109) (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 4 Agricultural Sciences > 401 Agricultural, Forestry and Fisheries > Agricultural Science (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 4 Agricultural Sciences > 401 Agricultural, Forestry and Fisheries > Forest Science (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 4 Agricultural Sciences > 401 Agricultural, Forestry and Fisheries > Soil Science |
Agrovoc terms: | soil, nutrients, agriculture, forest plantations |
Keywords: | Biolog EcoPlate (trademark), PLFA, soil nutrients, agriculture, forest plantation, soil C |
URN:NBN: | urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-e-2082 |
Permanent URL: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-e-2082 |
ID Code: | 11472 |
Faculty: | NJ - Fakulteten för naturresurser och jordbruksvetenskap |
Department: | (NL, NJ) > Dept. of Ecology (S) > Dept. of Ecology |
External funders: | FORMAS and Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency |
Deposited By: | Karin Eriksson |
Deposited On: | 03 Sep 2014 12:49 |
Metadata Last Modified: | 02 Dec 2014 11:08 |
Repository Staff Only: item control page