Comparison of Soil Properties and Microbial Activities between Air-Dried and Rewetted Desert and Oasis Soils in Northwest China.

An air-drying and rewetting (AW) experiment was used to examine the responses of soil properties and microbial activities to abrupt alteration of water availability between desert and oasis soils in northwest China. The results revealed that AW increased soil pH and available nitrogen and phosphorus but decreased soil organic matter in the desert, while available phosphorus increased and available nitrogen decreased in the oasis. This AW also caused a burst of microbial activity in both desert and oasis soils, and the magnitude of the AW effect was correlated with the extent of soil rewetting, incubation temperature, land use, and the interaction between rewetting moisture and incubation temperature. The responses of soil properties and microbial activity to AW were greater in the desert than in the oasis. Different soil properties and microorganism composition resulted from land-use change and were likely to be the causes of the different responses to AW in the desert and oasis soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]