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eISSN: 2083-5906
ISSN: 1230-1485
ISSN: 1230-1485
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Effects of Simulated Litter Inputs on Soil Microbial
Biomass Carbon Pools in Alpine Meadows
1
Academy of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Qinghai University, 810016, Xining, China
Submission date: 2025-04-14
Final revision date: 2025-05-29
Acceptance date: 2025-06-12
Online publication date: 2025-09-25
Corresponding author
Kejia De
Academy of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Qinghai University, 810016, Xining, China
Academy of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Qinghai University, 810016, Xining, China
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
To reveal the response of the soil microbial biomass carbon pool (MBCP) in alpine meadows
to litter inputs, the present study was conducted to simulate the effect of litter inputs on MBCP
in ungrazed, lightly grazed, and moderately grazed alpine meadows. In this study, four level gradients,
T0 (0 g·C·m2), T1 (1.39 g·C·m2), T2 (3.48 g·C·m2), and T3 (6.97 g·C·m2²), were set up in alpine meadows as
the research object, and the effects of different levels of litter inputs on MBCP in ungrazed, lightly grazed,
and moderately grazed alpine meadows were analyzed. The results showed that with increasing litter
input, S-β-XYS, S-β-GC, S-FDA, S-DHA, and CBH all had maximum values at T3. Soil S-β-XYS,
S-β-GC, GOD, and S-DHA under light grazing were higher than those under ungrazed and moderately
grazed. The peak values of S-β-XYS, S-β-GC, and S-DHA were at T3, which were 16.87 U/g, 41.09 U/g,
and 21.01 U/g, respectively. MBCP was higher in lightly grazed than in ungrazed and moderately grazed
at different levels of litter input and peaked at 18.72 g/ m2 at T3. Structural equation modeling showed
that soil microbial biomass in ungrazed alpine meadows was significantly positively correlated with
MBCP, and enzyme activities were negatively correlated.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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