*4.3. Enzymatic Activity of Soil*

The results of ample investigations [10,85–87] have demonstrated that the analysis of the activity of soil enzymes is of great importance to the evaluation of soil quality and productivity, due to its high sensitivity, ease of measurements, and a high correlation with plant yield. The enzymatic activity of soil is usually strongly associated with soil colonization by microorganisms. In the reported study, this effect was observed only in the case of dehydrogenases and acid phosphatase. Their activities were highest in the soil from cultivation of field pea, i.e., in the rhizosphere had the greatest effect on the promotion of soil colonization by cultivable bacteria (organotrophic bacteria and actinobacteria). The positive correlation between the abundance of microbial communities and the activity of dehydrogenases has been shown by many authors [88,89], who explained this phenomenon by the localization of these enzymes in viable microorganism cells [86]. According to Merino et al. [90], intracellular, rather than extracellular, enzymes provide information about the potential activity of a community of soil microorganisms. In the present study, the activities of the other tested enzymes, in particular of urease, alkaline phosphatase, β-glucosidase, and arylsulfatase, were higher in the soil sown with winter wheat than in those of field pea and winter rape. The activities of extracellular enzymes are positively correlated with the sorption capacity of soil [91], whereas the soil from the cultivation of winter wheat was characterized by the best physicochemical properties. The activities of these enzymes may, however, be suppressed by the excessive sorption capacity caused by, e.g., biocarbon supplementation [92].
