Potential impacts of seasonal and altitudinal changes on enzymatic peat decomposition in the High Andean Paramo region of Ecuador.

The Andean Paramo is a vast ecosystem, characterized by distinct vegetational zones at several altitudinal levels with huge water storage and carbon fixation capacity within its peat-like andosols, due to a slow decomposition rate of organic matter. These characteristics become mutually related as enzymatic activities increase with temperature and are associated with oxygen penetration, restricting the activity of many hydrolytic enzymes according to the enzyme Latch Theory. This study describes the changing activity of sulfatase (Sulf), phosphatase (Phos), n-acetyl-glucosaminidase (N-Ac), cellobiohydrolase (Cellobio), β-glucosidase (β-Glu), and peroxidase (POX) on an altitudinal scale from 3600 to 4200 m, in rainy and dry seasons at 10 and 30 cm sampling depth, related to physical and chemical soil characteristics, like metals and organic elements.