| 06 Feb 2026
Selection of soil biochemical indicators according to seasonal variation and vegetation cover for long-term soil monitoring in a mountain valley of the Alps
Abstract. The complexity of soil organic matter and the multifunctional role of its components on soil processes make the characterization of soil ecological status challenging. Due to its ready responsiveness to environmental changes, the soil microbial community has gained increasing attention for its relationship to the dynamics of C pools and soil chemical and physical processes. Its activity can be monitored by the enzymatic profile, which enables the detection of early changes in soil status, supported by direct or indirect measurement – e.g., by double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) – of microbial biomass and parameters, such as dissolved fractions of C and N, which are linked to soil activity as rapidly available energy sources. This study analyzed the seasonal response of these indicators in a subalpine ecosystem, using sampling date and vegetation cover as predictors capable of capturing long-term and short-term changes in the ecosystem, respectively. Most of the bioindicators showed higher values in the warmest and least rainy summer season. In the cold season, two distinct trends were evident: the values of dsDNA and enzyme activities decreased to their minimum in early winter and rose to their maximum in late winter, while those of soil organic matter (SOM), dissolved C, and N continued to decline until the end of winter. The study also found that the dynamics of SOM in the woodland and meadow ecosystems differed, with the former achieving the highest SOM content during the summer period of greatest plant and faunal activity. Overall, this study suggests that the use of bioindicators and high-throughput techniques can contribute to improving soil quality assessment and monitoring. Additionally, they can be used to characterize humus forms and motivate the preservation of Alpine meadows and surrounding wooded habitats for their non-wood products.
Dear Editors and Authors,
This manuscript investigates the seasonal dynamics of soil biochemical and microbial indicators under two vegetation covers (meadow vs. hazel groves) in an Alpine subalpine ecosystem, with the aim of screening cost-effective, sensitive indicators for long-term soil monitoring. The study provides valuable baseline seasonal dynamic data for the target region. However, these issues must be fully addressed through major revisions before acceptance.
e.g. Line 15-16: sampling date = short-term seasonal variation, vegetation cover = long-term anthropogenic management? If true, it is better to rephrase it: using sampling date (capturing short-term seasonal climatic variation) and vegetation cover (capturing long-term anthropogenic management effects) as key predictors to analyze the seasonal response of these indicators in a subalpine ecosystem.
resolve Figure-text inconsistencies (Figures 2 and 3 captions vs. text descriptions), Figure 2: Text describes dsDNA and ACP seasonal trends, but the caption states dsDNA and ARYS Figure 3: Text describes ACP and EST (standardized to dsDNA), but the caption states ARYS and EST
Renumber the duplicate "2.2 Data analysis" to "2.3 Data analysis".
Line 104: The solution ratio “1, 4 w/v” is a punctuation error (revise: 1:4 w/v, the standard expression of solid-liquid ratio).
Line 109: should be bead-beaten?
Line 135: The “former” is ambiguous, directly use TDN instead Line 140：“March 2012” is inconsistent with the sampling date (March 2013) in the methods section, it should be March 2013.
Horvath (2007) in the text is misspelled—the reference list is Horwath (2007)