Soil microbial and boichemical properties under saline conditions

The microbial population, soil respiration and enzyme activities (dehydrogenase, urease, acid phosphatase and alkaline phosphatase and nitrate reductase) decreased with increasing salinity of the soil. There were significant positive correlations between soil properties and organic carbon content in the soil samples. The significant negative correlation of soil microbial and biochemical properties with ions suggested that the decrease in soil microbial and biochemical activities could be due to stressed microbial community.