Aggregate stability and microbial community dynamics under drying-wetting cycles in a silt loam soil

Aggregate stability often exhibits a large inter-annual and seasonal variability which occurs regardless of residue treatments and is often larger than the differences between soils or cropping systems. Variations in soil moisture and seasonal stimulation of microbial activity are frequently cited as the major causes. The goal of this paper was to evaluate the effects of drying-rewetting cycles on aggregate stability and on its main microbially mediated agents from a mechanistic point of view. The 3-5 mm aggregates of a silty soil were incubated at 20 °C for 63 days with the following treatments and their combinations: (i) with or without straw input and (ii) with or without exposure to four dry-wet cycles. Microbial activity was followed by measuring the soil respiration. We estimated the microbial agents of aggregate stability measuring hot-water extractable carbohydrate-C, microbial biomass carbon and ergosterol content. We measured the water drop penetration time to estimate the hydrophobicity and aggregate stability according to Le Bissonnais [1996. Aggregate stability and assessment of soil crustability and erodibility: I. Theory and methodology. European Journal of Soil Science 47, 425-437] to distinguish three breakdown mechanisms: slaking, mechanical breakdown and microcracking. The addition of straw stimulated microbial activity and increased the resistance to the three tests of aggregate stability, enhancing the internal cohesion and hydrophobicity of aggregates. All the estimated microbial agents of aggregate stability responded positively to the addition of organic matter and were highly correlated with aggregate stability. Fungal biomass correlated better with aggregate stability than total microbial biomass did, showing the prominent role of fungi by its triple contribution: physical entanglement, production of extracellular polysaccharides and of hydrophobic substances. Dry-wet cycles had less impact on aggregate stability than the addition of straw, but their effects were more pronounced when microbial activity was stimulated demonstrating a positive interaction.     

Destabilization of soil during the production of earthworm (Lumbricidae) and artificial casts

The mechanisms by which soil is destabilized in the digestive tract of endogéic earthworms were investigated with artificial casts, which were moulded with a syringe from slurries of a silty loam with or without gypsum and organic matter treatments, and compared to casts produced by Aporrectodea rosea (Lumbricidae). Both types of casts generally had the same levels of mechanical dispersion, observations of slaking, and particle size distribution when the casts were fresh, aged-moist for 30 days, or air-dried. Fresh casts were significantly more dispersive than the uningested soil despite the addition of gypsum or organic matter to the soil. However, the dispersion from aged-moist or air-dried casts was not substantially greater than that of uningested soil. Air-drying was more effective than moist-ageing in increasing the stability of casts and uningested soil. The concentration of soluble carbohydrate was greater in artificial casts produced from soil treated with sheep dung or xanthan gum, and in earthworm casts produced from soil treated with xanthan, than in the uningested soil of the same treatments. An increase in the concentration of soluble carbohydrate was related to an increase in dispersion. An attempt was made to simulate the addition of mucus to soil in the digestive tract of earthworms, by the addition of sucrose or xanthan gum to the slurry during the production of artificial casts. The addition of xanthan, but not sucrose, to the slurry increased mechanical dispersion relative to that of the uningested soil in the fresh treatment. Although the production of artificial casts destabilized soil to the same degree as earthworm casts, the artificial casts did not simulate all chemical, biochemical, and microbiological aspects of digestion. Received: 24 November 1995     

Changes in microbial biomass C, soil carbohydrate composition and aggregate stability induced by growth of selected crop and forage species under field conditions

The effects of growth of various crop and forage species on microbial biomass C, soil carbohydrate content and monosaccharide composition, and mean weight diameter (MWD) were investigated in two field experiments. One experiment was conducted over one growing season (4 months) whereas the other had been conducted for three consecutive growing seasons (32 months). In the four-month experiment, aggregate stability (estimated as MWD) of soil from experimental plots followed the order Italian ryegrass > prairie grass > phacelia = pea = maize. At the 32-month site the order was perennial ryegrass > annual ryegrass > perennial white clover = barley. At both sites crops with the greatest root mass and root length density had the greatest effect on increasing MWD. In all cases, rhizosphere soil had a significantly higher microbial biomass and MWD than non-rhizosphere soil. However, organic C, total content of acid-hydrolysable carbohydrate and content of individual monosaccharides in acid hydrolysates were similar in rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soil. The fraction of soil carbohydrate extractable with hot water (representing about 6-8% of the total carbohydrate content) was significantly higher in the rhizosphere soil. This fraction has a galactose plus mannose over arabinose plus xylose ratio of 2.1–2.3 indicating that it was predominantly of microbial origin. It is suggested that the carbohydrate fraction extractable with hot water is made up of exocellular microbial polysaccharides that are involved in stabilizing soil aggregates in the rhizosphere. By comparison with arable crop species, grass species have a larger root mass and root length density, and therefore a higher microbial biomass and larger production of carbohydrate extractable with hot water. As a result they have a more marked effect on improving soil aggregate stability.     

Interactions between soil organic matter status, cropping history, method of quantification and sample pretreatment and their effects on measured aggregate stability

 The effects of sample pretreatment (field-moist, air-dried or tension rewetted) on aggregate stability measured by wet sieving or turbidimetry were compared for a group of soil samples ranging in organic C content from 20 to 40 g C kg^–1. Concentrations of total N, total and hot-water-extractable carbohydrate and microbial biomass C were linearly related to those of organic C. Aggregate stability measured by wet sieving using air-dried or field-moist samples and that measured by turbidimetry, regardless of sample pretreatment, increased curvilinearly with increasing soil organic C content. However, when tension-rewetted samples were used for wet sieving, aggregate stability was essentially unaffected by soil organic C content. Measurements of aggregate stability (apart from wet sieving using rewetted soils) were closely correlated with one another and with organic C, total and extractable carbohydrate and microbial biomass C content of the soils. The short-term effects of aggregate stability were also studied. Soils from under long-term arable management and those under long-term arable followed by 1 or 3 years under pasture had similar organic C contents, but aggregate stability measured by turbidimetry and by wet sieving using air-dried or field-moist samples increased with increasing years under pasture. Light fraction C, microbial biomass and hot-water-extractable carbohydrate concentrations also increased. It was concluded that both total and labile soil organic C content are important in relation to water-stable aggregation and that the use of tension-rewetted samples to measure stability by wet sieving is unsatisfactory since little separation of values is achieved. Received: 6 January 1999     

Carbohydrate composition in relation to structural stability, compactibility and plasticity of two soils in a long-term experiment

The effects of tillage on soil organic carbon content, carbohydrate content, monosaccharide composition, aggregate stability, compactibility and plasticity were investigated in a field experiment on a gleysol and on a cambisol under winter barley in South-East Scotland. Two long-term treatments (direct drilling and conventional mouldboard ploughing for 22 years) were compared with short-term direct drilling and broadcast sowing plus rotavation for 5 years. Carbohydrate released sequentially to cold water, hot water, 1.0 M HCl and 0.5 M NaOH was determined after hydrolysis as reducing sugar equivalent to glucose in both fresh and air-dried samples. All other measurements were made on dry soils only. About 3% of the soluble carbohydrate was extracted by cold water, 10% by hot water, 12% by HCl and 75% by NaOH from both the dry and fresh soils. The total reducing sugars of the fractions were proportional to the total organic carbon determined by dichromate oxidation or C analysis. Organic carbon and carbohydrates were concentrated near the surface of the direct drilled soil, but were more uniformly distributed with depth in the ploughed soil. The surface soil under direct drilling was more stable, less compactible and had greater plasticity limits than under ploughing. However, particle size distributions were unaffected by tillage so that differences in soil properties were attributed to differences in the quantity and quality of organic matter. Differences in compactibility, structural stability and plasticity limits between depths and tillage treatments correlated with total carbon and with total carbohydrates. The hot water extractable carbohydrate fraction correlated best with aggregate stability and the NaOH fraction correlated best with compactibility and plastic limit. Both fractions were greatest in the long-term direct drilled soil. The hot water fraction had a galactose plus mannose over arabinose plus xylose ratio of 1.0–1.6 in comparison to 0.4–0.7 in the NaOH fraction indicating that the microbial contribution within the hot water-soluble fraction was the greater. The hot-water fraction was likely to contain more exocellular microbial polysaccharides involved in the stabilizing of soil aggregates. The hot-water and NaOH carbohydrate fractions may be good indicators of soil organic matter quality relevant to the preservation of good soil physical conditions.     

Phospholipid fatty acid profiles and xylanase activity in particle size fractions of forest soil and casts of Lumbricus terrestris L. (Oligochaeta,Lumbricidae)

Earthworms are key agents in organic matter decomposition, as they remove surface plant litter material and mix it with mineral soil. Plant litter material is comminuted in the gizzard of anecic earthworms and this is enhanced if sand particles are available. We hypothesize that this comminution of soil and litter will result in changes in the distribution of soil organic matter and soil microorganisms in the different particle-size fractions. We investigated soil organic matter content, xylanase- and microbial activity and community structure in bulk soil and particle size fractions of Lumbricus terrestris L. casts and in soil with and without the addition of beech litter.Earthworm gut passage did not affect the particle-size distribution but the content of soil organic matter was decreased in the fine sand fraction in treatments without litter (−6.80%) and increased in treatments with litter (+33.23%). The soil organic matter content of the clay fraction tended to be higher in earthworm casts. Xylanase activity was at a maximum in the fine sand fraction, lower in the coarse sand fraction and at a similar minimum in the silt- and clay-sized fraction. In the coarse sand fraction of the cast and litter treatments xylanase activity was increased by 39.1% and 124.8%, respectively. In the silt-sized fraction of casts the addition of litter increased xylanase activity (+58.6%) whereas, in casts without litter it was decreased (−36.25%). In the particle size fractions of casts, the content of bacterial PLFAs was decreased in the fine sand fraction and tended to be decreased in the clay fraction compared to the respective fractions in soil. In the silt fraction the fungal-to-bacterial PLFA ratio was higher in casts than in soil.We conclude that earthworms stabilize soil organic matter in cast aggregates predominantly by increasing the soil organic matter content in the clay fraction where it becomes protected against microbial attack. Organic matter in the coarse and fine sand fractions is decomposed primarily by fungi; xylanase is very active in these sand fractions and incorporation of litter into these fractions by the earthworms increased fungal biomass. Comminution of litter during passage through the earthworm gut increased the biomass and activity of fungi also in the silt fraction. The use of PLFA profiles in combination with other quantitative microbial methods improves the understanding of stabilizing and mobilizing processes in earthworm casts.     

蚯蚓粪施用量对黄土区典型土壤团聚体及其有机碳分布的影响

为探究蚯蚓粪施用量对黄土区典型土壤团聚体及其结合碳的影响,该研究采用土柱培养试验,研究了黄绵土(CS)、黑垆土(DS)和风沙土(AS)团聚体和有机碳的数量及稳定性对不同蚯蚓粪施用量(0、1%、3%和5%)的响应。结果表明,施用蚯蚓粪后粒径不大于0.25 mm团聚体含量在CS和DS中降低了9.2%～24.7%和7.0%～21.3%;AS中在3%和5%用量条件下减少了25.9%～34.0%。3%用量蚯蚓粪对CS、DS和AS水稳性团聚体数量、平均重量直径、几何平均直径和粒径大于0.25 mm团聚体含量提高有显著作用,但用量增加至5%后效果未进一步改善。施用1%～5%用量蚯蚓粪可使土壤有机碳增加17.9%～66.9%,同时也提高了各级团聚体结合碳含量。施用蚯蚓粪后,不大于0.25mm团聚体对总有机碳贡献率在CS和DS中降低了21.4%～41.1%和15.7%～20.4%,3%和5%用量处理间没有差异。各级团聚体中易氧化碳含量随蚯蚓粪施用量的增加而增大。综合考虑土壤团聚体和有机碳对蚯蚓粪施用量的响应可知,3%用量蚯蚓粪即可有效提升土壤团聚体和有机碳稳定性。研究可为合理利用蚯蚓粪对黄土区土壤结构进行改良提供依据。     

Soil management effects on aggregate stability and biological binding

In order to improve our understanding of soil aggregation, we have studied the relative importance of bonding and binding mechanisms, especially how they scale according to aggregate size and how they are influenced by farming system and different management options. Topsoil samples were collected from four arable sandy loam soils found as two pairs (FP1 and FP2) of neighbouring fields. One of the fields in FP2 had been grown for decades with annual cash crops without application of organic manures, while the other three fields had been managed with diversified crop rotations and manure dressings. Aggregates were segregated from the bulk soil by promoting brittle failure. The samples of soil structural units were fractionated to 4–8 mm, 0.5–1 mm and 0.063–0.25 mm aggregates during a process of air-drying with minimum energy input (e.g. short sieving times). We measured microbial biomass, ergosterol, clay dispersibility, hot-water extractable carbohydrates, and hyphal length. Generally, all four soils showed no significant differences among aggregate size classes in the content of microbial biomass, hot-water extractable carbohydrates and hyphal length. The FP2 soil grown with annual cash crops had significantly lower values for all soil attributes than its neighbouring soil, while a more complex pattern was observed for the FP1 soils. Our results do not indicate scaling according to aggregate size of the binding and bonding mechanisms studied. Results from the three fields with diversified crop rotations indicate satisfactory levels of bonding and binding agents for creation of stable aggregates. Exhaustion of soil organic matter as found in the cash crop system seems to change the way that clay particles interact with the biotic agents in aggregation.     

Relationship between acidity and microbiological properties in some tea soils

The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of different forms of soil acidities on microbial biomass C, ergosterol content, microbial metabolic quotient, microbial respiration quotient, and fluorescein diacetate-hydrolyzing activity of some tea-growing soils of India. Total potential and exchangeable acidity and extractable and exchangeable aluminum were higher in Tripura followed by Jalpaiguri and Kharagpur soil. Different forms of acidity were significantly and positively correlated with each other. All the microbiological properties investigated were significantly and positively correlated with soil organic C content. The ratio of organic C with microbial parameters was significantly and negatively correlated with different forms of acidity. Principal component analysis indicated that the microbial activities were not directly affected by the extractable aluminum and total potential acidity. Although the tea soils had higher microbial biomass and activities because of higher organic matter content than other soils, the ratios of microbial parameters/organic carbon indicated that inhibition of microbial growth and activities had occurred because of acidity stress.     

Influence of agricultural land management on organic matter content,microbial activity and aggregate stability in the profiles of two Oxisols

The effects of agricultural land use on organic matter content and related soil microbial and physical properties were compared with those under undisturbed native grassland in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Two separate farms situated on Oxisols were used and both contained fields with continuous long-term (>20 y) cropping histories. At site 1, soil organic C content in the surface 30 cm followed the order permanent kikuyu pasture > annual ryegrass pasture > native grassland > sugarcane > maize under conventional tillage (CT). At site 2, organic C in the surface 30 cm decreased in the order kikuyu pasture > native grassland > annual ryegrass pasture > maize under zero tillage (ZT) > maize CT. Organic C, microbial biomass C, percentage organic C present as organic C, basal respiration and aggregate stability were substantially greater in the surface 5 cm under maize ZT than maize CT but this trend tended to be reversed in the 10- to 30-cm layer. In the undisturbed sites (e.g. native grassland and kikuyu pasture) the metabolic quotient increased with depth. By contrast, under maize CT and sugarcane there was no significant stratification of organic C, yet there was a sharp decrease in the metabolic quotient with depth. Aggregate stability was high under both native grassland and kikuyu pasture and it remained high to 40 cm depth under the deep-rooted kikuyu pasture. Although soil organic C content was similar under maize CT and sugarcane, values for microbial biomass C, percentage of organic present as microbial biomass, basal respiration and aggregate stability were lower, and those for metabolic quotient and bulk density were higher, under sugarcane. This was attributed to the fallow nature of the soil in the interrows of sugarcane fields. It was concluded that the loss of organic matter, microbial activity and aggregate stability is potentially problematic under maize CT, sugarcane and annual pasture and measures that improve organic matter status should be considered.     

Using the continuous-quality theory to predict microbial biomass and soil organic carbon following organic amendments

Soil microbial biomass and microbial quotient (the ratio of soil microbial biomass to soil organic carbon) are considered to be useful as rapidly responding indicators of perturbations of soil properties. In this paper we will use a well‐tested model (the continuous‐quality theory) to analyse these variables in a Swedish 35‐year‐old field experiment with a black fallow, crop with no N addition, crop with calcium nitrate addition, and six treatments with organic amendments: straw, green manure, peat, farmyard manure, sawdust and sewage sludge. The model predicts correctly that the amount of microbial biomass increases for all the treatments with organic amendments compared with the black fallow treatment. The microbial biomass quotient increases also for all the amended treatments, except peat and sewage sludge, and decreases for the other treatments. The microbial biomass and microbial quotient increase with both the amounts of organic matter added (crop residues and amendments) and the quality of the added matter. However, to fully explain the observations it is also necessary to have an increasing microbial mortality with substrate quality. Moreover, short‐term observations can be misleading with respect to both the magnitude and direction of long‐term changes in biomass and related variables. Special attention must be paid to such amendments as sewage sludge, where contaminants such as heavy metals may determine process rates. We find no relation between microbial biomass or microbial quotient and yields.     

Effects of earthworm casts and compost on soil microbial activity and plant nutrient availability

Vermicomposting differs from conventional composting because the organic material is processed by the digestive systems of worms. The egested casts can be used to improve the fertility and physical characteristics of soil and potting media. In this study, the effects of earthworm casts (EW), conventional compost (CP) and NPK inorganic fertilizer (FT) amendments on N mineralization rates, microbial respiration, and microbial biomass were investigated in a laboratory incubation study. A bioassay with wheat (Triticum aestivium L.) was also conducted to assess the amendment effects on plant growth and nutrient uptake and to validate the nutrient release results from the incubation study. Both microbial respiration and biomass were significantly greater in the CP treatment compared to EW treatment for the initial 35 days of incubation followed by similar respiration rates and biomass to the end of the study at 70 days of incubation. Soil NO₃⁻ increased rapidly in the EW and CP treatments in the initial 30 days of incubation, attaining 290 and 400 mg N kg⁻¹ soil, respectively. Nitrate in the EW treatment then declined to 120 mg N kg⁻¹ soil by day 70, while nitrate in the CP treatment remained high. While ammonium levels decreased in the CP treatment as nitrate level increased with increasing incubation time, a low level of ammonium was maintained in the EW treatment throughout the incubation. The wheat bioassay study included two additional cast treatments (EW-N and EW2) to have treatments with higher levels of N input. Plants grown with CP or FT treatment had a lower shoot biomass and higher shoot N content than in EW-N and EW-2 treatments, and also showed symptoms of salinity stress. Ionic strength and other salinity indicators in the earthworm cast treatments were much lower than in the CP treatment, indicating a lower risk of salinity stress in casts than in compost. All cast and compost amendments significantly increased wheat P and K uptake compared to either the non-amended control or the mineral fertilizer treatment. The results show that casts are an efficient source of plant nutrients and that they are less likely to produce salinity stress in container as compared to compost and synthetic fertilizers.     

Soil organic matter,microbial properties,and aggregate stability under annual and perennial pastures

The use of annually sown pastures to provide winter forage is common in dairy farming in many regions of the world. Loss of organic matter and soil structural stability due to annual tillage under this management may be contributing to soil degradation. The comparative effects of annual ryegrass pastures (conventionally tilled and resown each year), permanent kikuyu pastures and undisturbed native vegetation on soil organic matter content, microbial size and activity, and aggregate stability were investigated on commercial dairy farms in the Tsitsikamma region of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. In comparison with soils under sparse, native grassy vegetation, those under both annual ryegrass and permanent kikuyu pasture had higher soil organic matter content on the very sandy soils of the eastern end of the region. By contrast, in the higher rainfall, western side, where the native vegetation was coastal forest, there was a loss of organic matter under both types of pasture. Nonetheless, soil organic C, K₂SO₄-extractable C, microbial biomass C, basal respiration, arginine ammonification and fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis rates and aggregate stability were less under annual than permanent pastures at all the sites. These results reflect the degrading effect of annual tillage on soil organic matter and the positive effect of grazed permanent pasture on soil microbial activity and aggregation. Soil organic C, microbial biomass C, K₂SO₄-extractable C, basal respiration and aggregate stability were significantly correlated with each other. The metabolic quotient and percentage of organic C present as microbial biomass C were generally poorly correlated with other measured properties but negatively correlated with one another. It was concluded that annual pasture involving conventional tillage results in a substantial loss of soil organic matter, soil microbial activity and soil physical condition under dairy pastures and that a system that avoids tillage needs to be developed.     

Comparisons of earthworm populations and cast properties in conventional and organic arable rotations

Abstract. Earthworms influence a wide range of soil properties. They are affected by practices that perturb the soil or change organic inputs. This study compared populations in UK organic and conventional rotations differing in such practices. Three farm pairs, ranging from stockless to arable-grassland systems, were sampled on three occasions in each of two crop years. Additional farm pairs were sampled on a single occasion. Nine common earthworm species were grouped into three classes based on the depth ranges from which they were recovered. Cast and soil samples were taken from leys to compare aggregate stability, organic and nutrient content, and microbial biomass.   For similar rotation stages, populations of surface and shallow species classes were often larger in organic systems. In some comparisons the reverse was the case, particularly as the proportion of ley within each pair increased. System differences in biomass, but not abundance, could be attributed to the proportion of leys in rotations; individual earthworm weights were larger in conventional systems. Casts from both systems had markedly higher organic contents, stability, available P and K concentrations, and microbial biomass than underlying soil. This trend was more pronounced in conventional sites for nutrients and microbial biomass. Differences in populations and cast properties may have implications for soil fertility and wider ecosystem function.     

Relationships between casts of geophagous earthworms (Lumbricidae,Oligochaeta) and matric potential

A laboratory study was conducted to determine the effects of matric potentials between -25.4 and-2.0 kPa on the mechanical dispersion of fresh and aged casts produced by Aporrectodea caliginosa, A. rosea, and A. trapezoides. We also examined the effects on dispersion of the matric potential at which the air-dried casts were rewetted. Dispersion from subsurface casts up to 6 days old and uningested aggregates was influenced, but dispersion from fresh casts was not influenced, by the matric potential of the soil core from which the samples were collected. Dispersion from subsurface casts and uningested aggregates increased as the matric potential of the soil core increased from -25.4 to -2.0 kPa. Cast dispersion was not influenced by the earthworm species which produced the cast. Little or no clay was mechanically dispersed after the casts had been air-dried and rewetted, and the matric potential at which casts were rewetted had little influence on dispersion.     

Influence of drying and ageing on the stabilization of earthworm (Lumbricidae) casts

The influence of drying and ageing on the stabilization of casts produced by the endoge′ic earthworm, Aporrectodea rosea, from a soil, which was hard-setting and low in organic matter, were investigated in the laboratory. Casts and uningested soil were aged-most for up to 32 days, dried for up to 21 days, or subjected to different wetting and drying cycles over 30 days. The dispersion index of aged-moist casts decreased from 0.40 to 0.25 over 32 days, while dispersion index of dried casts decreased from 0.40 to 0.01 over 21 days. The dispersion index of air-dried casts was not significantly increased by five cycles of wetting and drying. The dispersion index of dried casts was not significantly less than that of dried soil. In soils wetter than a matric potential of approximately –35kPa, stabilization of casts was probably due to a combination of cohesion of soil particles, age-hardening and growth of microorganisms. However, in soils drier than –35kPa, cementation was probably the major mechanism of stabilization. The addition of wheat straw to the soil prior to ingestion by earthworms increased dispersion from aged-moist casts, but did not influence dispersion from dried casts. The addition of wheat straw decreased the number of air-dried casts which slaked severely. The concentration of soluble carbohydrate decreased with dispersion index as casts and uningested soil were each dried. This suggested that soluble carbohydrate may have been denatured with or without being bonded to soil particles during drying. Received: 7 May 1996     

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Distribution of carbon,nitrogen, carbohydrate and calcium carbonate in aggregates of histosols in Shahrekord,Iran

Soil organic matter and its components play a key role in the stabilization of soil aggregates. This study aimed to investigate the distribution of organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), hot-water extractable (HWE) and dilute acid extractable (DAE) carbohydrates and CaCO₃ in water-stable aggregates in histosols of Shahrekord, Iran. Additionally, correlations between aggregate stability (mean weight diameter (MWD) values) and mentioned characters were also examined. Results showed that at all depths in all 18 profiles, larger aggregates contained more OC, TN and carbohydrate content than the smaller aggregates, whilst CaCO₃ had the opposite trend. OC, TN and carbohydrate fractions followed a consistent similar trend by aggregate size. The positive correlation between OC and TN within the aggregates was considerable. OC, TN, carbohydrate fractions and MWD significantly (P < 0.01) decreased with depth. Average concentration of CaCO₃ was almost the same in aggregates <4 mm at all depths. We observed very low values of ratios HWE:OC and DAE:OC in the study site. OC, TN and carbohydrate fractions each gave highly or very highly significant correlations with aggregate stability. We obtained significant, but weak negative correlation of CaCO₃ with aggregate stability (P = 0.05; r = ?0.23), implying that CaCO₃ is a disaggregating agent in these histosols.     

Composition,biomass and activity of microflora,and leaf yields and foliar elemental concentrations of lettuce,after in situ stabilization of an arsenic-contaminated soil

Beringite (B) and zerovalent iron grit (Z), singly and in combination (BZ), were added to a loamy sand soil contaminated by trace elements (Reppel, Belgium), mainly by arsenic (As), to reduce As labile fractions and phytoavailability. An uncontaminated sandy soil was studied for comparison. Soils were placed in large lysimeters cultivated with maize and vegetables for 6 years. pH, organic C and total N content increased in amended soils. The Z and BZ treatments reduced the Ca(NO₃)₂⁻ extractable soil As and As uptake by lettuce. The BZ lettuces had also the lowest foliar Pb, Cd, Zn, and Mn concentrations. All amendments had positive effects on the soil microbial biomass and reduced the qCO₂. Glucose mineralization was increased in Z and BZ amended soils. Acid phosphomonoesterase activity was higher in the untreated soil than in the other soils; the alkaline phosphomonoesterase, phosphodiesterase and protease activities were increased by Z and BZ treatments, whereas B amendment had less positive effects. Genetic fingerprinting using Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) revealed shifts in the composition of eubacterial and fungal communities of the amended soils. Microbial species richness decreased rather than increased in the treated soils, regardless of reduced trace element availability and increased soil microbial biomass and activity.     

Microbiological Properties in Earthworm Cast and Surrounding Soil Amended with Various Organic Wastes

Abstract

Changes produced in the microbiological properties of earthworm Lumbricus terrestris casts and surrounding soil by the addition of various organic wastes such as wheat straw (WS), tea production waste (TEW), tobacco production waste (TOW), cow manure (CM), and hazelnut husk (HH) were evaluated in an incubation experiment. Twenty‐one days after organic waste treatment, analyses of microbial biomass (Cmic), basal soil respiration (BSR), metabolic quotient (qCO₂), and enzyme activities (dehydrogenase, catalase, β‐glucosidase, urease, alkaline phosphatase, and arylsulphatase) were carried out on collected cast and soil samples. Addition of organic wastes to the soil increased values of Cmic, BSR, and enzyme activities in soil and earthworm casts, indicating activation by microorganisms. Except for catalase activity, these values of microbiological parameters in casts were higher than in surrounding soil at all waste treatments and control. The addition of organic wastes caused a rapid and significant increase in organic carbon, total nitrogen, and microbiological properties in both soils; this increase was especially noticeable in soils treated with TEW.     

Influence of inorganic and organic fertilization on soil microbial biomass, metabolic quotient and heavy metal bioavailability

 We studied the long-term effects (12 years) of municipal refuse compost addition on the total organic carbon (TOC), the amount and activity of the microbial biomass (soil microbial biomass C, B_C and metabolic quotient qCO₂) and heavy metal bioavaiability in soils as compared to manuring with mineral fertilizers (NPK) and farmyard manure (FYM). In addition, we studied the relationships between among the available fraction [Diethylenetriaminopentacetic acid (DTPA) extractable] of heavy metals and their total content, TOC and B_C. After 12 years of repeated treatments, the TOC and B_C of control and mineral fertilized plots did not differ. Soils treated with FYM and composts showed a significant increase in TOC and B_C in response to the increasing amounts of organic C added. Values of the B_C/TOC ratio ranged from 1.4 to 2, without any significative differences among soil treatments. The qCO₂ increased in the organic-amended soil and may have indicated microbial stress. The total amounts of metals in treated soils were lower than the levels permitted by the European Union in agricultural soils. DTPA-extractable metals increased in amended soils in response to organic C. A multiple regression analysis with stepwise selection of variables was carried out in order to discriminate between the influence exerted on DTPA-extractable metals by their total content, TOC and B_C. Results showed that each metal behaved quite differently, suggesting that different mechanisms might be involved in metal bioavailability Received: 31 October 1997