Table 1 Soil properties and enzyme activities in plots without and with rodent exclusion. Values are means ± SE, n = 24. Means in a row are not significantly different except for urease activity (P < 0.05)

Soil organic carbon (SOC, %)

15.02 ± 0.59

15.37 ± 0.66

Total nitrogen (TN, %)

1.10 ± 0.04

1.13 ± 0.04

SOC: TN

13.73 ± 0.21

13.57 ± 0.25

Soil water content (%)

50.59 ± 0.66

50.64 ± 0.71

pH

4.45 ± 0.12

4.68 ± 0.13

Dissolved organic carbon (mg∙kg^− 1)

178.98 ± 10.83

167.68 ± 12.39

NH₄⁺-N (mg∙kg^− 1)

2.01 ± 0.15

1.70 ± 0.15

NO⁻₃-N (mg∙kg^− 1)

7.72 ± 1.00

6.42 ± 0.77

Cellulase activity (μg∙g^− 1∙h^− 1)

10.44 ± 0.77

9.68 ± 0.95

Sucrase activity (μg∙g^− 1∙h^− 1)

111.37 ± 5.87

113.91 ± 6.65

Urease activity (mg∙g^− 1∙d^− 1)

5.96 ± 028a

5.07 ± 0.33b