Microbial nutrient limitations in soil during afforestation in the Mu Us Desert, China: insights from extracellular enzyme stoichiometry
4 affiliations
- 1State Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences
- 2College of Forestry and Prataculture, Ningxia University
- 3Statistical Scientific Editing
- 4Ningxia Lingwu Baijitan National Nature Reserve Administration
Abstract
Afforestation is a key ecological restoration measure for combating desertification in arid and semi-arid regions. But the changes and drivers of nutrient limitations faced by soil microbes during long-term afforestation are unclear. This study investigated soil ecosystems of different-aged stands (planted 10, 30, 50, and 70 years ago) formed by the sand-fixing Caragana korshinskii shrub in China’s Mu Us Desert, using extracellular enzyme stoichiometry to infer the dynamics of microbial nutrient limitation. Results showed that establishing C. korshinskii sand-fixing vegetation alters the carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) stoichiometry of soil microbes and their extracellular enzymes. With increasing stand age, soil C: N, C: P, N: P, microbial biomass C: P, and enzyme N: P ratios all increased significantly, peaking at 70 years. However, enzyme C: N peaked much earlier, at 10 years, after which it declined, while enzyme C: P reached its peak at 10 years and then stabilized afterwards. Microbial C- and P- use efficiency both decreased, whereas N-use efficiency initially improved but later weakened. Vector analysis indicated that microbial C limitation intensified during the first decade of shrub stand development (0–10 years), and then stabilized after 10 years, while P limitation declined (0–70 years). Both multiple regression models for VA and VL identified the enzyme C: P as a closely associated variable with microbial nutrient limitations. This work provides scientific insights into how C and N are coupled mechanistically in soil during afforestation of desertland from the perspective of soil–microbe–extracellular enzyme ecological stoichiometry, offering theoretical support for greening desert-like ecosystems and promoting sustainable development in arid and semi-arid regions.
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BibTeX
@article{yu2026microbial,
title = {{Microbial nutrient limitations in soil during afforestation in the Mu Us Desert, China: insights from extracellular enzyme stoichiometry}},
author = {Shuang Yu and Xiaowei Li and Julian M. Norghauer and Xingdong Wang and Zhongwu Wan and Junlong Yang and Bo Yang and Haotian Yang},
journal = {Frontiers in Microbiology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fmicb.2026.1938090},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1938090/full},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Microbial nutrient limitations in soil during afforestation in the Mu Us Desert, China: insights from extracellular enzyme stoichiometry
AU - Shuang Yu
AU - Xiaowei Li
AU - Julian M. Norghauer
AU - Xingdong Wang
AU - Zhongwu Wan
AU - Junlong Yang
AU - Bo Yang
AU - Haotian Yang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
JO - Frontiers in Microbiology
DO - 10.3389/fmicb.2026.1938090
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1938090/full
AB - Afforestation is a key ecological restoration measure for combating desertification in arid and semi-arid regions. But the changes and drivers of nutrient limitations faced by soil microbes during long-term afforestation are unclear. This study investigated soil ecosystems of different-aged stands (planted 10, 30, 50, and 70 years ago) formed by the sand-fixing Caragana korshinskii shrub in China’s Mu Us Desert, using extracellular enzyme stoichiometry to infer the dynamics of microbial nutrient limitation. Results showed that establishing C. korshinskii sand-fixing vegetation alters the carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) stoichiometry of soil microbes and their extracellular enzymes. With increasing stand age, soil C: N, C: P, N: P, microbial biomass C: P, and enzyme N: P ratios all increased significantly, peaking at 70 years. However, enzyme C: N peaked much earlier, at 10 years, after which it declined, while enzyme C: P reached its peak at 10 years and then stabilized afterwards. Microbial C- and P- use efficiency both decreased, whereas N-use efficiency initially improved but later weakened. Vector analysis indicated that microbial C limitation intensified during the first decade of shrub stand development (0–10 years), and then stabilized after 10 years, while P limitation declined (0–70 years). Both multiple regression models for VA and VL identified the enzyme C: P as a closely associated variable with microbial nutrient limitations. This work provides scientific insights into how C and N are coupled mechanistically in soil during afforestation of desertland from the perspective of soil–microbe–extracellular enzyme ecological stoichiometry, offering theoretical support for greening desert-like ecosystems and promoting sustainable development in arid and semi-arid regions.
SN - 1664-302X
ER -