Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-swr86 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-16T17:21:06.908Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effect of straw addition on composition and activity of soil microbial biomass

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2011

K. Killham ,
A. H. Sinclair  and
M. F. Allison
K. Killham
Affiliation:
Department of Soil Science, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, U.K.
A. H. Sinclair
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, U.K.
M. F. Allison
Affiliation:
Brooms Barm Experimental Station, Higham, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, U.K.
Get access

Synopsis

The size and activity of the fungal component of the straw-decomposing soil microbial biomass was investigated for three sites in eastern Scotland. The fungi were found (by means of selective substrate-amended respiration, FDA-active hyphal lengths, and cellulolytic plate count) increasingly to dominate the soil microbial biomass with repeated enrichment disturbance from straw incorporation. Development of a biomass with a greater fungal component was also associated with an increased biomass C:N ratio response to straw inputs and more rapid decomposition of 14C-labelled straw, suggesting that continued straw incorporation can cause a “substrate-adapted” microbial biomass to develop which is able to decompose straw increasingly rapidly.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences , Volume 94: Fungi and Ecological Disturbance , 1988 , pp. 135 - 143
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexander, M. A. 1977. Introduction to Soil Microbiology, 2nd edn. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Anderson, J. P. E. & Domsch, K. H. 1975. Measurement of bacterial and fungal contributions to respiration of selected agricultural and forest soils. Canadian Journal of Microbiology 21, 314–322.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anderson, J. P. E. & Domsch, K. H. 1978. Mineralization of bacteria and fungi in chloroform-fumigated soils. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 10, 207–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brookes, P. C., Landman, A., Pruden, G. & Jenkinson, D. S. 1985. Chloroform fumigation and the release of soil nitrogen: a rapid direct extraction method to measure microbial biomass nitrogen in soil. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 17, 837–842.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheshire, M. V., Mundie, C. M. & Shepherd, H. 1974. The origin of soil polysaccharide: transformation of sugars during the decomposition in soil of plant material labelled with 14C. Journal of Soil Science 24, 54–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eggins, H. O. W. & Pugh, G. J. F. 1961. Isolation of cellulose-decomposing fungi from soil. Nature 193, 94–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenkinson, D. S. & Powlson, D. S. 1976. The effects of biocidal treatments on metabolism in soil – V. A. method for measuring soil biomass. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 8, 209–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Killham, K. 1986. Modelling organic matter dynamics in crop residue-incorporated soil. Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology, Lubljyana, Yugoslavia.Google Scholar
Knapp, E. B., Elliot, L. F. & Campbell, G. S. 1983. Microbial respiration and growth during the decomposition of wheat straw. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 15, 319–323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koeller, K. 1983. Goodbye to all this? Power Farming, October, 13–15.Google Scholar
Martens, R. 1985. Limitations in the application of the fumigation technique for biomass estimations in amended soils. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 17, 57–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parr, J. F. & Papendick, R. I. 1978. Factors affecting the decomposition of crop residues by microorganisms. In Crop Residue Management Systems, ed. Oschwald, W. R., pp. 101–129. Madison, Wisconsin: American Society of Agronomy.Google Scholar
Powlson, D. S., Brookes, P. C. & Christensen, B. T. 1987. Measurement of soil microbial biomass provides an early indication of changes in total soil organic matter due to straw incorporation. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 19, 159–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Powlson, D. S. & Jenkinson, D. S. 1981. A comparison of the organic matter, biomass, adenosine triphosphate and mineralizable nitrogen contents of ploughed and direct-drilled soils. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 75, 713–721.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, O. L. 1982. Soil Microbiology: A Model of Decomposition and Nutrient Cycling. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press.Google Scholar
Söderström, B. E. 1977. Vital staining of fungi in pure cultures and in soil with fluorescein diacetate. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 9, 59–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sorenson, L. H. 1979. Decomposition of straw in soil after stepwise repeated additions. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 11, 23–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sundman, V. & Sievela, S. 1978. A comment on the membrane filter technique for estimation of length of fungal hyphae in soil. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 10, 399–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waksman, S. A. & Heukelekian, O. 1924. Microbiological analysis of soil as an index of soil fertility: VIII. Decomposition of cellulose. Soil Science 17, 275–291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar