Impact of soil moisture on microbial diversity and their enzyme activity on agricultural soil

In this study, the impact of a two-month of drought stress on the microbial abundance, their enzymes and functional diversity in four agricultural soil (Gniewkowo (G), Lulkowo (L), Nieszawa (N), and Suchatowka (S) sites from Poland) was investigated during summer season. The physicochemical parameters (pH, organic carbon (C), calcium carbonate (CaCO3), total nitrogen (N), nitrate (NO3-), ammonium (NH4+), total phosphorus (P), available phosphate (P2O5)), and specific biological parameters (microbial abundance, CLPP, and soil enzymes (phosphatases (acid; ACP and alkaline; AKP), dehydrogenase (DH), and urease (UR)) were conducted on the soil samples in this study. The physicochemical and biological data were compared between zero-week (T0) and 8th week (T8) time intervals. The microbial enumeration showed higher bacterial populations (496.63 x 104 CFU g-1 dry soil) compared to actinomycetes (13.43 x 104 CFU g-1 dry soil), and lowest were the fungal population (67.68 x 102 CFU g-1 dry soil) at T8. The functional diversity showed strong positive significance in the G, N and S sites at T8. On the contrary, most of the L sites showed negative significance with the utilization of amines only, by the end of the experiment. Overall, the microbial population, their enzymes and functional diversity showed positive correlation with soil moisture content in all four investigated sites. The findings of our study indicate that soil biological activities in agricultural regions can be modified by a mere two months of drought.