Stability and composition of soil organic matter control respiration and soil enzyme activities

Relationships between soil organic matter (SOM) molecular composition, thermal stability and decomposability by soil enzymes and microbes are largely unknown. We incubated soils from unfertilized and NPK-fertilized neighboring field plots of a long-term rye (Secale cereale) monoculture experiment and investigated relationships between changes in the molecular-chemical composition of SOM, the CO2 flux and the activities of enzymes. Pyrolysis-field ionization mass spectrometry (Py-FIMS) showed larger ion intensities in the NPK-fertilized than in the unfertilized soil at start of the incubation, only small changes in composition and thermal stability in the unfertilized soil, and a preferential reduction in thermally stable components as well as general shifts towards lower pyrolysis temperature after three weeks of incubation in the NPK-treatment. We found evidence that thermally labile and stable proportions of various compound classes were differently susceptible to decomposition, depending on the fertilization history of the soil. Irrespective of fertilization treatment, peaks in xylanase activity after 7 days of incubation followed by decreasing values were reflected by the ratio of xylan (m/z 114) to xylose (mlz 132) marker signals in the Py-FI mass spectra. Thus, the study proved that (1) SOM composition was changed due to long-term rye cropping without and with NPK-fertilization, (2) the modified SOM composition affected the decomposability and microbial parameters under optimized conditions and (3) the thermal properties of individual compound classes derived from Py-FI mass spectra can be sensitive predictors of microbial decomposition. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.