Understory vegetation plays the key role in sustaining soil microbial biomass and extracellular enzyme activities

While we know that understory vegetation affects the soil microbial biomass and extracellular enzyme activities in subtropical Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) forests, we are less certain about the degree of its influence. We determined the degree to which the soil abiotic and biotic properties, such as PLFAs and extracellular enzyme activities, were controlled by understory vegetation. We established a paired treatment in a subtropical Chinese fir plantation, which comprised one plot from which the understory vegetation and litter were removed (None) and another from which the litter was removed but the understory vegetation was left intact (Understory). We evaluated how the understory vegetation influenced the soil abiotic properties, the bacterial, fungal, and actinobacterial PLFAs, and the activities of five hydrolases and two oxidative enzymes. The dissolved organic carbon (DOC), particulate organic carbon, soil organic carbon, ammonia nitrogen (NH4+–N), and total nitrogen contents and soil moisture were 18 %, 25 %, 12 %, 34 %, 8 %, and 4 % lower in the None treatments than in the Understory treatments, respectively (P