土壤: 微生物的最后栖息地?

The question is asked whether soils can be regarded as extreme environments with respect to microorganisms. After defining some extreme environments in a general sense, special properties of extreme environments are compared to soil habitats, with special emphasis laid on time frame and localities. In relation to water availability, nutrients and other properties, such places as aggregates can show properties of extreme habitats. These features, which can act at different levels of the system from the community level down to the cellular level, are summarized as stress factors. The latter, where many switches are located leading to different strategies of survival, is described as the most important one. This raises the question of how organisms have adapted to such conditions. The soil system demands a broad spectrum of adaptations and/or adjustments for a highly variable environment. The soil microorganisms' adaptation can thus be seen as the highest kind of flexibility and is more useful than any other special adaptation.     

挪威北部土壤微生物活性的季节变化

Seasonal development of soil microbial activity and bacterial biomass in sub-polar regions was investigated to determine the impacts of biotic and abiotic factors, such as organic matter content, temperature and moisture. The study was performed during spring thaw from three cultivated meadows and two non-cultivated forest sites near Alta, in northern Norway. Samples from all five sites showed increasing respiration rates directly after the spring thaw with soil respiration activity best related to soil organic matter content. However, distributions of bacteria] biomass showed fewer similarities to these two parameters. This could be explained by variations of litter exploitation through the biomass. Microbial activity started immediately after the thaw while root growth had a longer time lag. An influence of root development on soil microbes was proposed for sites where microorganisms and roots had a tight relationship caused by a more intensive root structure. Also a reduction of microbial activity due to soil compaction in the samples from a wheel track could not be observed under laboratory conditions. New methodological approaches of differential staining for live and dead organisms were applied in order to follow changes within the microbial community. Under laboratory conditions freeze and thaw cycles showed a damaging influence on parts of the soil bacteria. Additionally, different patterns for active vs. non-active bacteria were noticeable after freeze-thaw cycles.