Timothy M. Bowlesa
Veronica Acosta-Martínezb
Francisco Calderónc
Louise E. Jacksona
. Soil enzyme activities microbial communities and carbon and nitrogen availability in organic agroecosystems across an intensively-managed agricultural landscape.Soil Biology and BiochemistryVolume 68 January 2014 Pages 252–262
Abstract
Variability in the activity and composition of soil microbial communities may have important implications for the suite of microbially-derived ecosystem functions upon which agricultural systems rely particularly organic agriculture. An on-farm approach was used to investigate microbial communities and soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) availability on 13 organically-managed fields growing Roma-type tomatoes but differing in nutrient management across an intensively-managed agricultural landscape in the Central Valley of California. Soil physicochemical characteristics potential activities of nine soil enzymes involved in C N phosphorus (P) and sulfur (S) cycling and fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) were