Soil faunal vs. fertilization effects on plant nutrition: results of a biocide experiment

Summary Intact cores of agricultural soil planted with Sorghum bicolor were treated with selective biocides or combinations of biocides to manipulate soil organisms. Half the replicates of each biocide treatment were also given N fertilizer. The plants were maintained in a greenhouse, where growth and nutrient content and soil-organism populations were monitored over 16 weeks.The plants responded strongly to fertilization, but showed weak and variable responses to the biocides, even though biocide treatments aimed at animal taxa effectively reduced their target groups. There were no strong interactions between faunal manipulations and fertilization, implying that there was little compensatory function of fauna in the absence of fertilizer. Conditions under which soil fauna are important in making mineral nutrients available to plants in the field need further investigation.