Enzyme assays, once used primarily to collect descriptive information
about soils, have become useful techniques for monitoring microbial ac
tivity and uncovering the mechanisms that underlie microbial processes
. The simplest paradigm is that decomposition and nutrient cycling are
emergent consequences of extracellular enzyme activities that are reg
ulated directly by site-specific factors such as temperature, moisture
and nutrient availability, and secondarily by litter chemistry throug
h adsorption, inhibition and stabilization processes. In application,
enzyme techniques are employed on three scales of resolution. On the l
argest scale, assays for ubiquitous enzymes such as phosphatase, ester
ase, and dehydrogenase are used as general measures of microbial activ
ity. At higher resolution, enzyme specificity is exploited to monitor
activity related to specific aspects of macronutrient cycling. At the
highest resolution, the enzymatic mechanisms by which microorganisms i
nteract with their environment are addressed.