Potential indicators of soil quality in temperate forest ecosystems: a case study in the Basque Country

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Table IV

Extracellular enzyme activities in nmol g soil^-1 h^-1 at 0–5 cm and 5–15 cm in the soil profile of semi-natural oak and beech stands, and cultivated 40-year-old, 16-year-old and 3-year-old pine stands.

	Oak	Beech	40 y Pine	16 y Pine	3 y Pine
0–5 cm
ß-1,4-glucosidase	446.3 (17.6)^a	271.6 (51.9)^b	256.6 (30.4)^b	264.1 (47.4)^b	148.9 (25.5)^b
α^-1, 4− glucosidase	363.1 (38.4)^a	192.4 (24.7)^b	236.1 (32.7)^b	206.3 (28.5)^b	129.2 (37.7)^b
ß-1,4-xylosidase	176.1 (34.9)^a	175.9 (32.6)^a	205.2 (15)^a	185 (36.8)^a	105.7 (27.5)^a
Cellobiohydrolase	49.3 (7.6)^a^*	30.3 (11.3)^a^c	23.3 (5.3)^b^c	23.1 (3.3)^b^c	11 (3.3)^b
ß-1,4-N-acetylglucosaminidase	408.6 (76.8)^a	281.5 (100.5)^a	267.4 (49.6)^a	299.3 (64.8)^a	217.9 (60.9)^a
L-leucine aminopeptidase	555.8 (27.5)^a	323.1 (58.3)^a	346.8 (118.1)^a	333.7 (22.2)^a	88.6 (14)^a
L-tyrosine aminopeptidase	237.6 (5.6)^a	142.7 (20.7)^a	149.3 (43)^a	159.5 (5)^a	53.7 (6.8)^a
Acid phosphatase	7516.3 (1375)^a^*	7072.1 (1121)^a	8071.5 (974)^a	5740.1 (467)^a^b	3492.8 (258)^b
5–15 cm
ß-1,4-glucosidase	93.7 (26.8)^a^*	37.8 (16.5)^b	93.9 (10.3)^a^b	47 (7.8)^a^b	34.9 (8.1)^b
α^-1, 4− glucosidase	74.9 (16.5)^a^b	45.4 (6.7)^b^c	96.3 (11.1)^c	35.3 (7)^c	33 (7)^c
ß-1,4-xylosidase	51 (8.8)^a^b	49.7 (6.9)^a	70.2 (1)^a^b	55 (11.2)^a^b	39.6 (8.2)^a^b
Cellobiohydrolase	13.5 (2.3)^a	8.7 (2.4)^a	6.1 (2.7)^a	2.7 (1.4)^a	8.2 (3.2)^a
ß-1,4-N-acetylglucosaminidase	138.4 (42.5)^a^*	63.7 (13)^a^b	162.8 (43.9)^b	88.3 (27.8)^b	84.3 (14.1)^a^b
L-leucine aminopeptidase	173.7 (8.1)^a^b	383.4 (242)^a	149.8 (16.7)^a	135.2 (29.3)^a	231.2 (154.1)^a
L-tyrosine aminopeptidase	79.4 (5.4)^a	240.7 (150.8)^a	100.6 (5.2)^a	88.7 (12.7)^a	165.5 (105.1)^a
Acid phosphatase	3443.4 (274)^a	2401.4 (269)^a	4589 (362)^a	2482.7 (226)^a	3263.1 (685)^a

Significance level, P < 0.1.

Values are the means of three replicates, with standard errors in parentheses. Different letters in the same row indicate significant difference at P < 0.05.