Responses of soil enzyme activities and bacterial community structure to different hydrological regimes during peatland restoration in the Changbai Mountain, northeast China

Ming Wang; Shangqi Xu; Shengzhong Wang; Cong Chen; Yuting Wang; Lei Liu

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.1005657

Responses of soil enzyme activities and bacterial community structure to different hydrological regimes during peatland restoration in the Changbai Mountain, northeast China

Front Microbiol. 2022 Sep 2:13:1005657. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1005657. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Ming Wang¹, Shangqi Xu², Shengzhong Wang^{1

3}, Cong Chen¹, Yuting Wang¹, Lei Liu⁴

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Geographical Processes and Ecological Security in Changbai Mountains, Ministry of Education, School of Geographical Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China.
² School of Ecology and Environment, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, China.
³ State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Restoration, Institute for Peat and Mire Research, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China.
⁴ Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of Jilin, Changchun, China.

Abstract

Appropriate hydrological management is critical for peatland restoration. An important prerequisite for peatland restoration is a recovery of soil biological processes. However, little is known about the effects of different hydrological management practices on soil biological processes during peatland restoration. In this study, the variations in soil properties, enzyme activities, and bacterial communities across different peatlands, namely natural peatland (NP), peatland restored under high water level (HR), peatland restored under alternating high-low water level (HLR), peatland restored under low water level (LR), and degraded peatland (DP), in the Changbai Mountains were investigated. Results showed that soil organic carbon, soil water content, and total nitrogen in NP were significantly higher than those in restored and degraded peatlands, and these soil properties in restored peatlands increased with the water level. The activities of soil hydrolases including β-1, 4-glucosidase, β-1, 4-n-acetylglucosidase, and acid phosphatase in NP were higher than in restored and degraded peatlands, while the activity of polyphenol oxidase in NP was the lowest. In restored peatlands, all measured enzyme activities decreased with the decline in water level. Both bacterial diversity and richness in NP were the lowest, while the highest diversity and richness were observed in HR. Redundancy analysis indicated that soil organic carbon, water level, soil water content, total nitrogen, and pH were the most important factors that affected the soil enzyme activities and bacterial community. Our findings give insight into the effects of different hydrological regimes on soil biological processes during peatland restoration. Maintaining a high water level early in the restoration process is more beneficial to restoring the ecological functions of peatlands than other hydrological regimes.

Keywords: Changbai Mountain; peatland restoration; soil bacteria; soil enzyme activity; soil properties; water regime.