Influence of altitudes on activity of soil health bioindicators beta -glucosidase and urease in agricultural soils of Almora District of Central Himalaya.

摘要

The present study was aimed to study the influence of altitudes on activity of soil health bioindicators in agricultural soils of Almora district of Central Himalaya. Seventy two soil samples were collected from agricultural lands at different altitudes of Almora, Uttarakhand, India and were assayed for their physico-chemical and enzymatic activities such as beta -glucosidase and urease following the standard procedures. Physico-chemical and biological properties of soil were: pH 5.2-6.78; organic C 1.05-2.44%; available N 166.84-323.4 kg ha-1; available K 179.93-310.59 kg ha-1; available P 21.1-31.1 kg ha-1and microbial biomass carbon 194.89-367.76 mg kg-1 C. Substrate induced beta -glucosidase activity ranged between 419.73-532.01 ppm para-nitrophenol g-1 soil h-1 while urease activity ranged from 216.99 to 395.28 ppm urea hydrolysed g-1 soil h-1. beta -glucosidase activity was positively correlated with available nitrogen (r=0.70*), available phosphorous (r=0.75*) and soil microbial biomass C (r=0.88**) while urease activity was positively correlated with available phosphorous (r=0.84**). Enzymatic activity was high in agricultural soils at high altitude. It was concluded that activity of beta -glucosidase in soil might be an effective tool to assess the soil health.