Soil microbial biomass and activity under different agricultural management systems in a semiarid Mediterranean agroecosystem

Abstract A field experiment was carried out in a semiarid agricultural Mediterranean area located at the “El Teularet” experimental field in the Enguera Sierra (Valencia, southeast Spain) to assess the influence of different agricultural management systems on indicators of soil biological quality and activity (microbial biomass C, basal respiration, C mineralization coefficients, metabolic quotient (qCO2), respiratory quotient (RQ: moles CO2 evolved/moles O2 consumed), soluble C and dehydrogenase, urease, protease-BAA, phosphatase and β-glucosidase activities), one year after treatment establishment. The management practices assayed were as follows: application of the herbicides paraquat, g…