Enzyme Activities as Indicators of Soil Quality: Response to Intensive Soybean and Rice Crops

• Published in: Water, air, and soil pollution Vol. 232; no. 7
• Main Authors: Attademo, Andrés M., Sanchez-Hernandez, Juan C., Lajmanovich, Rafael C., Repetti, Maria Rosa, Peltzer, Paola M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.07.2021; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acid phosphatase; Acidic soils; Acids; Agricultural industry; Agricultural land; Agrochemicals; Analysis; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Carboxylesterase; Catalytic activity; Cellobiase; Cereal crops; Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts; Contamination; Crops; Dehydrogenase; Dehydrogenases; Earth and Environmental Science; Environment; Environmental monitoring; Enzymatic activity; Enzyme activity; Enzymes; Glucosidase; Hydrogeology; Indicators; International economic relations; Land use; Pesticides; Phosphatase; Phosphatases; Rice; Soil; Soil contamination; Soil pollution; Soil quality; Soil Science & Conservation; Soybean; Soybeans; Urease; Water Quality/Water Pollution; β-Glucosidase; Enzyme activity; Soybean crop; Soil pollution; Rice crop
• ISSN: 0049-6979; 1573-2932
• DOI: 10.1007/s11270-021-05211-2

Soil enzyme activities are often used as indicators of soil contamination. The responses of the activities of specific soil enzymes, dehydrogenase, acid phosphatase, β-glucosidase, carboxylesterase, and urease to different land uses (soybean and rice crops, and a reference site) were analyzed. Changes in activity at the start and end of each crop cycle were quantified. In general, the catalytic activity of all enzymes was lower in both crops than in the reference site. Regarding the soybean crop, all the enzyme activities decreased at the start of the crop cycle (27.5–53%, with respect to reference site values), whereas only acid phosphatase, β-glucosidase and carboxylesterase were lower at the end of the cycle (70.3%, 29.44%, and 45.79%; respectively). In the rice crop, dehydrogenase, acid phosphatase, and β-glucosidase activities were lower at the start of the cycle (27.88%, 50.32%, and 23.21%; respectively), with respect to reference site. However, the enzyme activity was lower at the end of the cycle compared to the reference site (dehydrogenase 20.47%, acid phosphatase 72.72%, β-glucosidase 57.77%, carboxylesterase 27.59%), except for urease activity. Current results suggested that the use of enzyme activities as indicators of soil quality is a viable approach to assess the pesticide impact in agricultural soils of Argentina.