Abstract: Based on the measurements of soil nutrient contents and enzyme activities and the canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), this paper studied the relationships between soil nutrient contents and soil enzyme activities in different age Pinus massoniana stands in Three Gorges Reservoir Area. Among the test stands, mature stand had the highest contents of organic matter, total nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen, and available phosphorus in 0-20 cm soil layer, followed by middle-aged stand, and nearly-mature stand. With the increase of the stand age, soil invertase activity increased after an initial decrease, cellulase and polyphenoloxidase activities decreased gradually, while urease and peroxidase activities decreased after an initial increase. CCA analysis showed that the effects of the main soil parameters on the soil enzyme activities in the stands ranked in the sequence of total nitrogen ＞ organic matter ＞ pH ＞ bulk density ＞ ammonium nitrogen ＞ available phosphorus. Soil invertase activity had significant positive correlations with soil organic matter, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus, while soil peroxidase activity significantly negatively correlated with soil organic matter, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and bulk density.  The soil was rich in main nutrients, invertase activity was relatively high, while peroxidase activity was relatively low. The activities of soil invertase, cellulase  and peroxidase could be used as the good biological indicators in evaluating soil quality and fertility.

Key words: Three Gorges Reservoir area, soil nutrient, soil enzyme activity, stand age, canonical correspondence analysis (CCA)