Experimental Warming Changes Microbial Enzyme Activity in Semiarid Soils

Abstract

Climate change is altering the function of ecosystems across the planet, including the semi-arid soil ecosystems like those found in the Arizonan desert. Soil enzymes produced by microbes are essential to these ecosystems, and their productivity is threatened by the predicted rise in temperature. In this study, seven different soil enzymes were studied to observe how seasonality, soil water content, and plant cover affected the activity of these enzymes through experimental warming. It was concluded that seasonality and plant cover have direct effects on enzymatic activity, while the soil water content cannot be correlated with the activity of all soil enzymes. The results of these different variables when being measured with one anther and the soil enzyme activity did not provide any conclusive results, further asserting the intricacy of these soil enzyme interactions and how future studies need to be conducted in order to better understand the complexities of these soil variable interactions.