Abstract: Soil samples were collected from the Moso bamboo forests with same soil type, slope gradient, slope orientation, and management level at three altitudes (90-120 m, 360-400 m, and 700-780 m) in the mid and south subtropical transitional zone, the southern edge of Moso bamboo distribution, with their physical and chemical properties and enzyme activities determined. In the forests,the activities of soil alkaline phosphatase, invertase, and urease were in the ranges of 0.031-0.042, 0.104-0.146, and 0.017-0.039 mg·g^-1·h^-1, respectively, with the turning points appeared at altitude 360-400 m. The proteinase activity was in the range of 0.248-0.259 mg·g^-1·h^-1, and increased slowly with increasing altitude; whereas the catalase activity was in the range of 0.097-0.143 mg·g^-1·h^-1, and increased significantly with increasing altitude. The enzyme activities at the all three altitudes were less affected by soil physical properties and soil total and available phosphorus and potassium, but had significant positive correlations with soil organic matter, total nitrogen, and available nitrogen. Soil pH had positive effects on the enzyme activities. There existed significant correlations among the test enzyme activities, suggesting that soil enzymatic reactions were both specific and concomitant.

Key words: Soil micro-arthropod, Community structure, Bio-indicator, Land utilization, Lower Reaches of Liaohe Plain