Assessing impacts of copper on soil enzyme activities in regard to their natural spatiotemporal variation under long-term different land uses

► The relevance of enzymatic tools is assessed by combining approaches in situ and TMEs. ► Enzyme activities are monitored in grasslands and cropped soils for a seasonal cycle. ► There is a great spatiotemporal variability of enzyme activities at the plot scale. ► Cu impact on soil enzymes is assessed in undisturbed TMEs of grassland and crop soil. ► Cu effect on enzyme activities is included in the range of their natural variability.