Microbial biomass and activity in an agricultural soil with different organic matter contents

doi:10.1016/0038-0717(85)90036-7

Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Volume 17, Issue 5, 1985, Pages 611-618

https://doi.org/10.1016/0038-0717(85)90036-7 Get rights and content

Abstract

Changes in soil fertility caused by various organic and N-fertilizer amendments were studied in a long-term field trial mostly cropped with cereals. Five treatments were included: (I) fallow, (II) cropping with no C or N addition, (III) cropping with N-fertilization (80 kg ha ⁻¹ yr⁻¹), (IV) cropping with straw incorporation (1800kg Cha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) and N-fertilization (80 kg ha⁻¹yr⁻¹), and (V) cropping with addition of farmyard manure (80 kg N + 1800kg Cha⁻¹yr⁻¹). The treatments resulted in soil organic matter contents ranging from 4.3% (I) to 5.8% (V). Microbial biomass and activity were determined by chloroform fumigation, direct counting of fungi (fluorescein diacetate (FDA)-staining and Jones-Mollison agar-film technique) and bacteria (acridine orange staining), most probable number determinations of protozoa, esterase activity (total FDA hydrolysis) and respiration. Both biomass estimates and activity measurements showed a highly significant correlation with soil organic matter. Microbial biomass C ranged from 230 to 600 μg C g⁻¹ dry wt soil, as determined by the fumigation technique, while conversions from direct counts gave a range from 380 to 2260 μg C. Mean hyphal diameters and mean bacterial cell volumes decreased with decreasing soil organic matter content.

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^∗: Present address: Department of Water in Nature and Society, University of Linköping, 5-581 83 Linköping, Sweden.

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Microbial biomass and activity in an agricultural soil with different organic matter contents

Abstract

Soil Biology & Biochemistry

Soil Biology & Biochemistry

Soil Biology & Biochemistry

Soil Biology & Biochemistry

Soil Biology & Biochemistry

Soil Biology & Biochemistry

Analytica Chimica Acta

Soil Biology & Biochemistry

Soil Biology & Biochemistry

Soil Biology & Biochemistry

Soil Biology & Biochemistry

Soil Biology & Biochemistry

Soil Biology & Biochemistry

Soil Biology & Biochemistry

Soil Biology & Biochemistry

Soil Biology & Biochemistry

Soil Biology & Biochemistry

The effects of agronomy on the carbon and nitrogen in the soil biomass

Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge

Quantities of plant nutrients in the microbial biomass of selected soils

Soil Science

Fungal biomass and fungal immobilization of plant nutrients in Swedish coniferous forest soils

Revue d'Ecologie et Biologie du Sol

Buoyant densities and dry-matter contents of microorganisms: Conversion of a measured biovolume into biomass

Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Effect of crop rotation and fertilization on some biological properties of a loam in southwestern Saskatchewan

Soil Biology & Biochemistry

Changes in soil quality under tillage farming systems: distribution of microbial biomass and mineralizable C and N potentials

Canadian Journal of Soil Science

Protozoan grazing of bacteria in soil-Impact and importance

Microbial Ecology

A comparison of methods for soil microbial population and biomass studies

Zeitschrift für Pflanzenernährung und Bodenkunde