Abstract
Soils from 38 German forest sites, dominated by beech trees (Fagus sylvatica L.) were sampled to a depth of about 10 cm after careful removal of overlying organic layers. Microbial biomass N and C were measured by fumigation-extraction. The pH of the soils varied between 3.5 and 8.3, covering a wide range of cation exchange capacity, organic C, total N, and soil C:N values. Maximum biomass C and biomass N contents were 2116 μg C m-2 and 347 μg N m-2, while minimum contents were 317 and 30 μg m-2, respectively. Microbial biomass N and C were closely correlated. Large variations in microbial biomass C:N ratios were observed (between 5.4 and 17.3, mean 7.7), indicating that no simple relationship exists between these two parameters. The frequency distribution of the parameters for C and N availability to the microflora divided the soils into two subgroups (with the exception of one soil): (1) microbial: organic C>12 mg g-1, microbial:total N>28 mg g-1 (n=23), a group with high C and N availability, and (2) microbial:organic C≤12 mg g-1, microbial:total N≦28 mg g-1 (n=14), a group with low C and N availability. With the exception of a periodically waterlogged soil, the pH of all soils belonging to subgroup 2 was below 5.0 and the soil C:N ratios were comparatively high. Within these two subgroups no significant correlation between the microbial C:N ratio and soil pH or any other parameter measured was found. The data suggest that above a certain threshold (pH 5.0) microbial C:N values vary within a very small range over a wide range of pH values. Below this threshold, in contrast, the range of microbial C:N values becomes very large.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson JPE, Domsch KH (1980) Quantities of plant nutrients in the microbial biomass of selected soils. Soil Sci 130:211–216
Anderson TH, Domsch KH (1986) Carbon link between microbial biomass and soil organic matter. In: Megusar F, Gantar M (eds) Perspectives in microbial ecology. Proc 4th Int Symp Microbial Ecology 1986, Ljubljana, Yugoslavia, pp 467–471
Anderson TH, Domsch KH (1993) The metabolic quotient for CO2 (qCO2) as a specific activity parameter to assess the effects of environmental conditions, such as pH, on the microbial biomass of forest soils. Soil Biol Biochem 25:393–395
Bauhus J, Khanna PK, Raison RJ (1993) The effect of fire on carbon and nitrogen mineralization and nitrification in an Australian forest soil. Aust J Soil Res 31:621–639
Bremer E, van Kessel C (1992) Seasonal and microbial biomass dynamics after addition of lentil and wheat residues. Soil Sci Soc Am J 56:1141–1146
Brookes PC, Landman A, Pruden G, Jenkinson DS (1985) Chloroform fumigation and the release of soil nitrogen: A rapid direct extraction method for measuring microbial biomass nitrogen in soil. Soil Biol Biochem 17:837–842
Chander K, Brookes PC (1991) Effects of heavy metals from past applications of sewage sludge on microbial biomass and organic matter accumulation in a sandy loam and silty loam U.K. soil. Soil Biol Biochem 23:927–932
Chapman SJ, Gray TRG (1981) Endogenous metabolism and macromolecular composition of Arthrobacter globiformis. Soil Biol Biochem 13:11–18
Cole DW (1981) Nitrogen uptake and translocation by forest ecosystems. Ecol Bull, Stockholm 33:219–232
Cooke RC, Rayner ADM (1984) Ecology of saprotrophic fungi. Longman, London
Fliessbach A, Reber H (1991) Auswirkungen einer langjährigen Zufuhr von Klärschlamm auf Bodenmikroorganismen und ihre Leistungen. Ber Ökolog Forschung (Jülich) 6:327–358
Houba VJG, Novozamsky I, Uittenbogaard J, van der Lee JJ (1987) Automatic determination of “total soluble nitrogen” in soil extracts. Landwirtsch Forsch 40:295–302
Jenkinson DS (1988) The determination of microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen in soil. In: Wilson JR (ed) Advances in nitrogen cycling in agricultural ecosystems. CAB International, Wallingford, pp 368–386
Jenkinson DS, Parry LC (1989) The nitrogen cycle in the broadbalk wheat experiment: A model for the turnover of nitrogen through the soil microbial biomass. Soil Biol Biochem 21:535–541
Joergensen RG, Meyer B, Müller T (1992) Zeitliche Veränderung der mikrobiellen Biomasse in der Ackerkrume einer mitteleuropäischen Lössparabraunerde. Göttinger Bodenkd Ber 100: 1–137
Kaiser EA, Mueller T, Joergensen RG, Insam H, Heinemeyer O (1992) Evaluation of methods to estimate the soil microbial biomass and the relationship with soil texture and organic matter. Soil Biol Biochem 24:675–683
Krom MD (1980) Spectrophotometric determination of ammonia: A study of a modified Bethelot reaction using salicylate and dichloroisocyanurate. Analyst 105:305–316
Kutscha-Lissberg P, Prillinger F (1982) Rapid determination of EUF-extractable nitrogen and boron. Plant and Soil 64:63–66
Paul EA, Clark FE (1989) Soil microbiology and biochemistry. Academic Press, San Diego
Reardon J, Foreman JA, Searcy RL (1966) New reactants for the colorimetric determination of ammonia. Clin Chim Acta 14: 403–405
Ross DJ, Tate KR (1993) Microbial C and N, respiratory activity, in litter and soil of southern beech (Nothofagus) forest: Distribution and properties. Soil Biol Biochem 25:477–483
Schlichting E, Blume HP (1966) Bodenkundliches Praktikum, 2nd Edn. Parey, Hamburg
Swift MJ, Heal OW, Anderson JM (1979) Decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems. Blackwell, Oxford
Ulrich B (1981) Ökologische Gruppierung von Böden nach ihrem chemischen Bodenzustand. Z Pflanzenernaehr Bodenk 144:289–305
Vance ED, Brookes PC, Jenkinson DS (1987) An extraction method for measuring soil microbial C. Soil Biol Biochem 19:703–708
Wolters V, Joergensen RG (1991) Microbial carbon turnover in beech forest soils at different stages of acidification. Soil Biol Biochem 23:897–902
Wolters V, Joergensen RG (1992) Effects of Aporrectodea caliginosa (Savigny) on microbial carbon turnover in beech forest soils at different stages of acidification. Soil Biol Biochem 24:171–177
Wolters V, Schaefer M (1994) Effects of acid deposition on soil organisms and decomposition processes. In: Hüttermann A, Godbold D (eds) Effects of acid rain on forest processes. Wiley, New York (in press)
Wu J, Joergensen RG, Pommerening B, Chaussod R, Brookes PC (1990) Measurement of soil microbial biomass C—an automated procedure. Soil Biol Biochem 22:1167–1169
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Joergensen, R.G., Anderson, T.H. & Wolters, V. Carbon and nitrogen relationships in the microbial biomass of soils in beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forests. Biol Fertil Soils 19, 141–147 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00336150
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00336150