Influence of Salt Composition on the Enzymatic Activity of Degraded Soils in Astrakhan Oblast
摘要
The paper looks into the effect of salt composition on the enzymatic activity of soils of the Astrakhan oblast: solonchaks (Haplic Solonchaks), brown aridic (Endosalic Calcisols), and soddy alluvial (Calcic Fluvisols) soils. Ten soil samples taken from the upper soil layer (0–20 cm) in the Narimanovsky, Trusovsky, and Privolzhsky districts of Astrakhan oblast were examined. Sulfate and sulfate–chloride types of salinization predominate in the studied soil samples. In the nonsaline soddy alluvial soil from the Privolzhsky district of the Astrakhan oblast, the maximum integral index of enzymatic activity was found for all enzyme classes (87%), while in a similar soil with an average degree of salinity its value was 1.5 times lower and approached that in solonchaks. With soil salinization, the enzymes of the cycle of C (invertase, dehydrogenases), N (urease), S (arylsulfatase), and P (phosphatase) showed the greatest sensitivity, while the enzymes of the O cycle (ascorbate oxidase, and peroxidase) were least sensitive. The use of enzyme activity in saline soils as a diagnostic indicator is possible depending on the type of soil, the chemistry of salinity, and its cationic and anionic composition.