ABSTRACTS of the Articles Printed in Journal of the Science of Soil and Manure,Japan

Sulfate-reducing bacteria, widely distributed in natural environments, have a specific ability to reduce sulfate and to form hydrogen sulfide, which reacts with iron or/and manganese present in the environments and forms a black precipitate of iron or/and manganese sulfide. This specific reaction is useful for the simple and selective detection of sulfate-reducing bacteria in mixed bacterial populations as in soil.     

ABSTRACT of the Articles Printed in Journal of the Science of Soil and Manure,Japan

A contrasting occurrence of clay minerals was found within a soil profile which was derived from volcanic materials in the suburbs of Fukuoka-city, Northern Kyushu. The soil profile is located on an isolated terrace, and the morphological characteristics of the soil correspond exactly to Andosols, so-called Kuroboku soils or Humic Allophane soils.

The clay fraction of upper horizons of the soil consists largely of alumina-rich gel-like materials, gibbsite, and layer silicates such as chlorite and chloritevermiculite intergrades, while that of lower horizons is composed of allophane and gibbsite or halloysite. There was no positive indication of allophane in the upper horizons. Corresponding with the clay mineralogical composition, quartz is abundant in the fine sand fraction of the upper horizons, while the mineral is very scarce or none in the lower horizons, suggesting a close relation between the petrological nature of parent volcanic materials and the mineralogical composition of weathering products. The dominant clay mineral in the volcanic 1.10il might be dependent on the petrological nature of parent materials, and allophane is mostly formed from andesitic materials, and alumina-rich gel-like materials and layer silicates have come from quartz andesitic materials. Allophane would transform to gibbsite or halloysite according to weathering conditions, and aluminarich gel-like materials change to gibbsite under a well-drained condition.

The soil materials have been so greatly weathered that some horizons contain gibbsite of even more than 40 per cent or halloysite over 70 per cent. The morphology and mineralogy are quite similar to so-cailed “non-volcanic Kuroboku soils.”     

ABSTRACT of the Articles Printed in Journal of the Science of Soil and Manure,Japan

Changes in soil moisture determine the reproductive, respiratory, and metabolic activities of soil microorganisms and hence the rate of microbial nitrogen (N) mineralization. Soil moisture also affects the feeding activity and movement of soil invertebrates. Bacterial and fungal grazing by soil invertebrates such as Collembola and nematodes is known to increase N mineralization by increasing the reproductive, respiratory, and metabolic activities of microorganisms. Therefore, to assess the effect of soil moisture on N mineralization, faunal responses need to be considered. We used microcosms to investigate the effect of soil moisture on N mineralization mediated by a species of Collembola, Folsomia candida Willem. We used four moisture levels corresponding to matric potentials of ?42.5, ?11.8, ?0.8, and ?0.5 kPa and investigated the effects of these on Collembola with respect to feeding activity, growth, and contribution to N mineralization. The microbial biomass and ratio of bacterial to fungal biomass tended to increase with increasing soil moisture. Collembola feeding activity and growth increased with increasing soil moisture conditions. Collembola significantly enhanced N mineralization in soil at water potentials of ?11.8 and ?0.5?kPa. The greatest relative increase in N mineralization attributed to Collembola occurred in the ?11.8?kPa treatment. The change in contribution of the Collembola to N mineralization with soil moisture was most likely induced by changes in Collembola feeding activity and microbial community structure. The growth in body length of the Collembola was significantly greater at higher moisture conditions than at the lowest moisture condition, indicating that increases in both metabolic activity and biomass of the Collembola population contributed to the enhanced N mineralization.     

Nippon Dojohiryogaku Zasshi (Journal of the Science of Soil and Manure,Japan)

Some allophanic soils in Japan, developed from deposits of volcanic ashes have aggregates, the sizes of which are mostly those of silt and sand, and which are very stable against the ordinary soil dispersion treatment such as decomposition of organic matter with hydrogen peroxide and addition of deflocculants to the suspension, but can be broken to smaller particles by mechanical forces. Oba and Kono (1, 2) reported that there were aggregates stable even against deferration treatment in the soils, especially plenty in ones developed from basic volcanic ashes, and these aggregates could be broken up into clay of allophane mainly by a sonic-wave vibration technique. Miyazawa (3) recognized that the aggregates were only found in Andosols developed under warm-temperate climates, being concentrated in B horizon, but not so much in A horizon and few in gleyey subhorizon, and assumed that they were formed under a specific weathering like seasonal wetting and drying. Yasuo et al. recognized a high correlation between the degree of aggregation and free iron oxide content of the soils in Kanto Plain and suggested that sesquioxide and structure of allophane might associate with the aggregate fonnation. On the other hand, airdrying of volcanic ash soils sometimes reduces their dispersibilities through irreversible formation of aggregates. Kishita (5) found that this effect of drying was remarkable at subsoiLs, and similar results were obtained by TAPA et al. (6). The poor dispersibility and the irreversible change by drying are known also about volcanic ash soils of New Zealand (7, 8), and Latin America (10, 11), Hawaii (9).