Spatial variability of soil moisture content has also been previously
demonstrated to affect different microbial processes. In a
beech/oak forest, moisture content positively correlated with Ntransformation
(Bengtson et al., 2005). Catalase activity in both the
L and H horizons in beech forest soil increased with soil moisture
content (Gömöryová et al., 2006), and phenoloxidase was found
to decrease during soil drying in a heathland soil (Toberman et
al., 2008). In this study, we demonstrated that several enzymes
respond to soil moisture, although the effects were not consistent
between sampling times, and the proportion of variability
explained by moisture variation was lower than in the case of the
microbial biomass. Taking into account the high level of variability
in enzyme activity distribution, a considerable part of the variation
is due to soil moisture content (Table 2). Acid phosphatase was the
only enzyme significantly affected by soil moisture in both horizons
at both sampling times. This is probably due to the fact that
this enzyme is constitutively produced by many members of the
soil microbial community (as shown by its close correlation with
PLFAT, Table 3) and it is the main enzyme for P acquisition, contrary
to C and N acquisition which can be achieved by the action of more
complementary enzymes.
Fungi are often claimed