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Ecoenzymatic stoichiometry of microbial nutrient acquisition in tropical soils

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Abstract

The relative activities of soil enzymes involved in mineralizing organic carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) reveal stoichiometric and energetic constraints on microbial biomass growth. Although tropical forests and grasslands are a major component of the global C cycle, the effects of soil nutrient availability on microbial activity and C dynamics in these ecosystems are poorly understood. To explore potential microbial nutrient limitation in relation to enzyme allocation in low latitude ecosystems, we performed a meta-analysis of acid/alkaline phosphatase (AP), β-1,4-glucosidase (BG), and β-1,4-N-acetyl-glucosaminidase (NAG) activities in tropical soils. We found that BG:AP and NAG:AP ratios in tropical soils are significantly lower than those of temperate ecosystems overall. The lowest BG:AP and NAG:AP ratios were associated with old or acid soils, consistent with greater biological phosphorus demand relative to P availability. Additionally, correlations between enzyme activities and mean annual temperature and precipitation suggest some climatic regulation of microbial enzyme allocation in tropical soils. We used the results of our analysis in conjunction with previously published data on soil and biomass C:N:P stoichiometry to parameterize a biogeochemical equilibrium model that relates microbial growth efficiency to extracellular enzyme activity. The model predicts low microbial growth efficiencies in P-limited soils, indicating that P availability may influence C cycling in the highly weathered soils that underlie many tropical ecosystems. Therefore, we suggest that P availability be included in models that simulate microbial enzyme allocation, biomass growth, and C mineralization.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Peyton Smith and Colin Averill for thoughtful discussions related to the manuscript. We also thank three anonymous reviewers for comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Bonnie Grace Waring

  2. INSTAAR and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA

    Samantha Rose Weintraub

  3. Biology Department, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Robert L. Sinsabaugh

Authors
  1. Bonnie Grace Waring
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  2. Samantha Rose Weintraub
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  3. Robert L. Sinsabaugh
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Correspondence to Bonnie Grace Waring.

Additional information

Re-submitted to Biogeochemistry for the special feature ‘enzymes in biogeochemical cycles’, 4 April 2013.

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Waring, B.G., Weintraub, S.R. & Sinsabaugh, R.L. Ecoenzymatic stoichiometry of microbial nutrient acquisition in tropical soils. Biogeochemistry 117, 101–113 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-013-9849-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-013-9849-x

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