Effects of water amendment on basal and substrate-induced respiration rates of mineral soils

Summary We studied the effects of amending soils with different volumes of water or glucose solution on respiration rates measured as CO₂ evolution. Basal respiration was not significantly affected by the volume of water amendment, but substrate-induced respiration in static soil solutions was significantly reduced by increasing water contents. Inhibition of substrate-induced respiration was removed by continuously agitating the incubation vessels. Estimates of substrate-induced respiration rates for six soils differed markedly, depending on whether the vessels were stationary or agitated during the incubation. Agitation allowed increased discrimination between substrate-induced respiration rates for the soils, while static incubation only differentiated the soil with the highest substrate-induced respiration rate from the other soils.