Microbial carbon and nitrogen limitation in Larix gmelinii forests along an altitudinal gradient: Evidence from ecoenzymatic stoichiometry and vector analysis

Mountain ecosystems have obvious variations in environmental factors at small spatial scales and thus provide a natural platform for investigating climate change. To investigate the characteristics of extracellular enzymes and microbial metabolic limitations in the hostile environmental conditions of cold temperate mountain ecosystems, soil physicochemical properties and enzyme activities were measured in the 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm soil layers of Larix gmelinii forests at elevations of 830 m, 950 m, 1100 m, and 1300 m. Our results showed that altitude and soil depth had a significant effect on 1,4-8-glucosidase, 1,4-8-N-acetyl-glucosaminidase, leucine aminopeptidase, and acid phosphatase activities. Extracellular enzyme activities decreased with increasing altitude and soil depth. The stoichiometric ratio of soil C-, N-, and P-acquiring enzymes after logarithmic transformation was 1:1.27:0.72 across all altitudes and soil depths. The metabolism of the microorganisms was mainly limited by C and N, and a high C limitation was observed at higher-altitude sites. With increased soil depth, the N limitation gradually weakened. Moreover, soil bulk density and pH were the main factors affecting extracellular enzyme activities and microbial nutrient constraints. Our study revealed that the carbon and nitrogen limitation of soil microbes was induced by the variation in soil factors in a cold temperate mountain forest ecosystem. This finding provides important insights into the mechanism of microbial metabolic limitation in the face of climate change.