Arid agroecosystem shrubs enhance enzyme activities during the dry season
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Date
2020Author
Diédhiou, Siré
Assigbetsee, Komi B.
Goudiaby, Arfang Ousmane Kémo
Diédhiou, Ibrahima
Badiane, Aminata N.
Sène, Modou
Khouma, Mamadou
Samba, Arona N. S.
Dick, Richard P.
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In Senegal, in the Sahel region, the agroecosystem is dominated by two Sahe lian shrubs able to redistribute water from deep soil to the surface. This study
was carried out to determine the impact of these shrubs on soil microbial ac tivity. A 2 × 3 factorial design was set up during the dry and wet season with
three soil treatments: rhizospheric, bulk and non-rhizospheric soil. During
the dry season, the presence of shrubs resulted in significantly higher phos phatase acid activity for Guiera senegalensis (p < 0.001), respectively, 717 µg
pNP/h/g of dry soil in the rhizosphere soil, 333 µg pNP/h/g in the bulk soil
and 193 µg pNP/h/g in the non-rhizosphere soil. The same trend was ob served for all other enzyme activities and MBC during both seasons except for
mineral N. Mineral N was not statistically different between the rhizospheric
and bulk soil during the dry season. β-glucosidase and phosphatase acid had
the highest correlation with the rhizospheric soil during the dry season re spectively 98% and 97%. Soil moisture content was highly correlated with the
rhizospheric soil (85%), chitinase activity (99%) and β-glucosidase (97%).
Shrubs maintained a moister environment during the dry season which was
critical in stimulating microbial activities; this has significant implications for
agroecosystem management in the Sahel.