Responses of soil microbial activities and biomass to drying and wetting-A review

Soils are frequently exposed to drying and wetting (DRW) events,which dramatically affects the biological and structural properties of soil and consequently influences the transformation of nutrient,the formation of soil aggregation,the decomposition of soil organic matter,the productivity of soil and the cycling of soil carbon or nitrogen.Soil microbial activities and biomass are essential to soil nutrient transformation and elements cycling processes,their responses to DRW and mediated carbon or nitrogen cycling processes are crucial to predict the response and feedback of carbon or nitrogen cycling processes in agroecosystem under future climate change conditions.In this paper,we reviewed the response of microbial communities to DRW and their effects on carbon or nitrogen mineralization.Future research should focus on the effects of DRW on microbial properties under typical soils and climate.The application of illumina high-throughput sequencing and molecular biological techniques would help us get more information on gene levels in soil carbon or nitrogen cycling under DRW.