The aim of this study was to quantify the effects of different mulch planting patterns on soil enzyme activity and organic carbon mineralization in a tea plantation. The cover crop diversity experiment was conducted in the Tanjiawan tea garden, Yunyang District, Shiyan City, Hubei Province. Four cover crop planting modes were set up, namely no crop cover(A0), two cover crops(A1), four cover crops (A2), and eight cover crops(A3). The enzyme activity, organic carbon mineralization rate, and

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... tive mineralization of the 0~20 cm and 20~40 cm soil layers in the tea plantation were measured, and the data was fitted to the first order kinetic equation to obtain the mineralization potential(Cp)and mineralization constant(k)of organic carbon. The results showed that, the soil enzyme activity in the mulch plot was generally higher than that in the control plot, and the enzyme activity in the 0~20 cm soil layer was higher than that in the 20~40 cm layer. Different mulch types had significant effects on soil catalase and urease activity(P<0.05), but no significant effect on soil phosphatase. Compared with catalase, soil urease and phosphatase were more important participants in the soil carbon cycle, and there was a significantly positive correlation between their activities and organic carbon mineralization(P<0.01), showing that they play an important role in the decomposition and transformation of soil organic carbon. The organic carbon mineralization rates of all treatments showed a trend of first increasing, then decreasing, and finally stabilizing. The mineralization rate and cumulative amount of organic carbon in the 0~20 cm soil layer were higher than those in the 20~40 cm soil layer. In the 0~20 cm soil layer, the Cp/k value was as follows:A1 > A2 > A3 > A0. In the 20~40 cm soil layer, the Cp/k value was as follows:A1 > A2 > A0 > A3. This suggests that the organic carbon mineralization of A1 was the strongest in both soil lay [...]