Enzyme Activities as Indicators of Soil Quality: Response to Intensive Soybean and Rice Crops

ATTADEMO, ANDRÉS M.; SANCHEZ-HERNANDEZ, JUAN C.; LAJMANOVICH, RAFAEL C.; REPETTI, MARIA ROSA; , PELTZER P,

WATER AIR AND SOIL POLLUTION

SPRINGER

Año: 2021 vol. 232

0049-6979

Soil enzyme activities are often usedas indicators of soil contamination. The responsesof the activities of specific soil enzymes, dehydrogenase,acid phosphatase, β-glucosidase, carboxylesterase,and urease to different land uses (soybeanand rice crops, and a reference site) were analyzed.Changes in activity at the start and end of each cropcycle were quantified. In general, the catalytic activityof all enzymes was lower in both crops thanin the reference site. Regarding the soybean crop,all the enzyme activities decreased at the start of the crop cycle (27.5?53%, with respect to referencesite values), whereas only acid phosphatase,β-glucosidase and carboxylesterase were lower at theend of the cycle (70.3%, 29.44%, and 45.79%; respectively).In the rice crop, dehydrogenase, acid phosphatase,and β-glucosidase activities were lower atthe start of the cycle (27.88%, 50.32%, and 23.21%;respectively), with respect to reference site. However,the enzyme activity was lower at the end of thecycle compared to the reference site (dehydrogenase20.47%, acid phosphatase 72.72%, β-glucosidase57.77%, carboxylesterase 27.59%), except for ureaseactivity. Current results suggested that the useof enzyme activities as indicators of soil quality is aviable approach to assess the pesticide impact in agriculturalsoils of Argentina.