Response of soil extracellular enzyme activity and stoichiometry to short-term warming and phosphorus addition in desert steppe

Background Phosphorus (P) is regarded as one of the major limiting factors in grassland ecosystems. Soil available phosphorus deficiency could affect soil extracellular enzyme activity, which is essential for microbial metabolism. Yet it is still unclear how soil available phosphorus affects soil extracellular enzyme activity and microbial nutrient limitation of desert steppe in the context of climate warming. Methods This study carried out a short-term open-top chambers (OTCs) experiment in a desert steppe to examine the effects of warming, P addition, and their interaction on soil properties, the activities of soil extracellular enzymes, and stoichiometries. Results The findings demonstrated that soil acquisition enzyme stoichiometry of C: N: P was 1.2:1:1.5 in this experiment region, which deviated from the global mean scale (1:1:1). Warming increased soil AN (ammonium nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen) contents and decreased microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN). Phosphorus addition raised soil available phosphorus and microbial biomass phosphorus (MBP) contents. Soil extracellular enzyme activities and stoichiometries in desert steppe are largely impacted by soil AN, MBC: MBP, and MBN: MBP. These results revealed that the changes of soil available nutrients and stoichiometries induced by short-term warming and P addition could influence soil microbial activities and alleviate soil microbial carbon and phosphorus limitation. Our findings highlight that soil available phosphorus played a critical role in regulating soil extracellular enzyme activity and microbial nutrient limitation of desert steppe. Further research on soil microbial communities should explore the microbiological mechanisms underlying these findings.