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• Enzyme activity decreased by erosion leading to an increase in the depositional plot. • Slope enhanced the difference in enzyme activity between the erosional and depositional plot. • Enzyme activity mitigated total soil CO 2 emission in the erosion-deposition plots. Soil C-acquiring enzymes are good indicators for the biological mechanism of soil nutrients and organic matter cycles. However, they have been used less frequently to assess the ecological stability and soil C cycle in eroding landscapes due to a lack of knowledge of the responses of C-acquiring enzyme activities to soil erosion and deposition. In the present study, a 3-year field simulation experiment was conducted to examine the variations in the activities of C-acquiring enzymes (β-1,4-xylosidase (βX), β-1,4-glucosidase (βG) and β-D-cellobiohydrolase (CBH)) from erosion-deposition plots with different slope gradients (5°, 10° and 20°) on the Loess Plateau in China (2016–2018). The activities of βX, βG and CBH were higher in the depositional plots than in the erosional plots, and those differences were enlarged with increasing slope gradients. Compared to the 5°-erosional plot, the activities of βX, βG and CBH respectively declined by 3.2–4.5%, 14.3–37.5% and 12.7–29.1% in the 10°-and 20°-erosional plots. The βX, βG and CBH activities were 2.2–18.1%, 17.3–32.1% and 14.8–86.2% higher in the 10°- and 20°-depositional plots than in the 5°-depositional plot. Moreover, the total soil CO 2 emissions from the whole erosion-deposition plots decreased as slopes steepened. The displaced runoff and sediment depleted soil moisture, SOC, clay and microbial biomass in the erosional plots but enhanced these resources in the depositional plots, which can account for the changes in C-acquiring enzyme activities. The spatial distribution of enzyme activities affected soil CO 2 emissions in a positive linear function. The sensitive responses of the C-acquiring enzyme activities and the controlling effects of C-acquiring enzyme activities on soil CO 2 emissions during erosion and deposition processes, should be properly considered in assessing the biological mechanism for nutrition cycling in regions predominated with fragmented eroding landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Bacterial alpha diversity was increased by deposition but not changed by erosion. • Erosion altered bacterial community structure but deposition did not. • Bacterial co-occurrence network was more complex at depositional than eroding site. Soil erosion and deposition occur widely from regional to global scales and have profound impacts on ecological services and sustainability. Despite their crucial roles in biogeochemical cycles, the responses of soil bacterial communities to soil erosion and deposition remain largely unclear. In this study, a field simulation experiment was conducted to examine variation in soil bacterial communities across eroding slopes and depositional zones with three slope gradients (5°, 10° and 20°) on the Loess Plateau of China (2015–2017). The results showed that soil physicochemical properties were altered by redistribution of runoff and sediment across eroding slopes and depositional zones. Soil bacterial alpha diversity was higher in the depositional zones of both 10° and 20° slopes compared with the 5° reference slopes but no markedly difference was found between eroding slopes and reference slopes. By contrast, bacterial community structure differed between eroding slopes and reference slopes but not between depositional zones and reference slopes. Differentiation of bacterial communities between eroding slopes and depositional zones increased with increasing slope gradients. The bacterial network was greater and more complex within depositional zone than eroding slope, indicating more extensive bacterial interactions and greater community stability potential. Erosion- and deposition-induced redistribution of soil moisture, soil organic matter, available P, and available K were the key determinants of variation in bacterial community structure. Our findings demonstrate the contrasting effects of soil erosion and deposition on soil bacterial communities, which should be given further attention across eroding landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]