ABSTRACT
Soil is an integral part of our ecosystem. The organic compounds in soil are primarily delivered by the plant in the form of organic acids, amino acids, and biopolymers, such as cellulose, hemicelluloses, starch, and lignin. Some other organic components, such as chitin and peptidoglycan are received from microbial and microfauna present in the soil. Decomposition of these organic matters is carried out by a set of numbers of extracellular enzymes, which are produced by soil microbes which include bacteria and fungi. Measurement of these enzymes’ activity represents the soil quality in terms of nutrient turnover. Many studies at different scales indicated enzyme distribution in soil. The scales considered ranges from a square meter to hectares. These studies concluded that enzyme distribution vary unevenly even in some square centimeters. This chapter summarizes the current research knowledge regarding spatial variability of soil enzymes at different scales and the factors of each scale responsible for the development of such establishment. The most common factors for all the scales include nutrient content, vegetation, microbial biomass, pH, and moisture content.
