ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Impacts of Adding Municipal Sewage Sludge
on Soil Enzyme Activity and Stoichiometry
in a Chinese Loess Soil
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1
State Key Laboratory of Eco-Hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region of China,
Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an, China
2
Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Ecological Hydrology
and Disaster Prevention in Arid Regions, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China
Submission date: 2021-10-19
Final revision date: 2022-01-16
Acceptance date: 2022-01-29
Online publication date: 2022-05-02
Publication date: 2022-06-20
Corresponding author
Lie Xiao
Xi'an University of Technology, China
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2022;31(4):3031-3041
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ABSTRACT
Municipal sewage sludge (MSS) disposal through land application was a cost-effective option for
improving soil quality. It is inconsistent about the effects of MSS addition on the variations of soil
enzyme activities and stoichiometries, which have been frequently used as indicators of soil quality.
A laboratory incubation experiment was conducted for 60 days with six treatments: non-amended soil
(CK), soil amended with synthetic fertilizer (N or P addition), and different doses (5%, 10%, and 15%)
of MSS. Soil samples were collected after 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 30, 45, and 60 days of incubation, and
C-, N-, and P-acquiring enzyme activities (β-glucosidase [BG], N-acetyl-glucosaminidase [NAG],
L-leucine aminopoptidase [LAP], and phosphatase [AP]) were determined and enzyme stoichiometries
were calculated. BG, NAG+LAP, and AP activities logarithmically increased with incubation time. The
daily variation of BG, NAG+LAP, and AP activities first increased and then decreased with incubation
time, with the highest value on the 7th day incubation. Compared with CK, the cumulative enzyme
activities increased by 323.8-389.8% in the 15% MSS addition treatment, whereas those under the N
and P treatments significantly decreased by 18.0%-51.4% and 31.8%-53.0%, respectively. Enzyme C:N
decreased but C:P and N:P increased during incubation with MSS addition. However, synthetic N and P
addition increased the enzyme C:N and C:P but decreased enzyme N:P. These results indicated that N
and P addition decreased the enzyme activities, and MSS addition significantly increased the secreting
of enzymes and would be better for alleviating soil C and N limitations.