Soil ionomic and enzymatic responses and correlations to fertilizations amended with and without organic fertilizer in long-term experiments

To investigate potential interactions between the soil ionome and enzyme activities affected by fertilization with or without organic fertilizer, soil samples were collected from four long-term experiments over China. Irrespective of variable interactions, fertilization type was the major factor impacting soil ionomic behavior and accounted for 15.14% of the overall impact. Sampling site was the major factor affecting soil enzymatic profile and accounted for 34.25% of the overall impact. The availabilities of Pb, La, Ni, Co, Fe and Al were significantly higher in soil with only chemical fertilizer than the soil with organic amendment. Most of the soil enzyme activities, including α-glucosidase activity, were significantly activated by organic amendment. Network analysis between the soil ionome and the soil enzyme activities was more complex in the organic-amended soils than in the chemical fertilized soils, whereas the network analysis among the soil ions was less complex with organic amendment. Moreover, α-glucosidase was revealed to generally harbor more corrections with the soil ionic availabilities in network. We concluded that some of the soil enzymes activated by organic input can make the soil more vigorous and stable and that the α-glucosidase revealed by this analysis might help stabilize the soil ion availability.