High specific activity in low microbial biomass soils across a no-till evapotranspiration gradient in Colorado

The need to identify microbial community parameters that predict microbial activity is becoming more urgent, due to the desire to manage microbial communities for ecosystem services as well as the desire to incorporate microbial community parameters within ecosystem models. In dryland agroecosystems, microbial biomass C (MBC) can be increased by adopting alternative management strategies that increase crop residue retention, nutrient reserves, improve soil structure and result in greater water retention. Changes in MBC could subsequently affect microbial activities related to decomposition, C stabilization and sequestration. We hypothesized that MBC and potential microbial activities that broadly relate to decomposition (basal and substrate-induced respiration, N mineralization, and β-glucosidase and arylsulfatase enzyme activities) would be similarly affected by no-till, dryland winter wheat rotations distributed along a potential evapotranspiration (PET) gradient in eastern Colorado. Microbial biomass was smaller in March 2004 than in November 2003 (417 vs. 231 μg g⁻¹ soil), and consistently smaller in soils from the high PET soil (191 μg g⁻¹) than in the medium and low PET soils (379 and 398 μg g⁻¹, respectively). Among treatments, MBC was largest under perennial grass (398 μg g⁻¹). Potential microbial activities did not consistently follow the same trends as MBC, and the only activities significantly correlated with MBC were β-glucosidase (r = 0.61) and substrate-induced respiration (r = 0.27). In contrast to MBC, specific microbial activities (expressed on a per MBC basis) were greatest in the high PET soils. Specific but not total activities were correlated with microbial community structure, which was determined in a previous study. High specific activity in low biomass, high PET soils may be due to higher microbial maintenance requirements, as well as to the unique microbial community structure (lower bacterial-to-fungal fatty acid ratio and lower 17:0 cy-to-16:1ω7c stress ratio) associated with these soils. In conclusion, microbial biomass should not be utilized as the sole predictor of microbial activity when comparing soils with different community structures and levels of physiological stress, due to the influence of these factors on specific activity.     

农艺措施对土壤中酞酸酯消减的调控作用研究进展

酞酸酯是邻苯二甲酸的酯化衍生物,作为增塑剂或塑化剂被广泛应用于各种生活用品及塑料制品中,是目前世界上产量最大、应用面积最广的人工合成有机化合物.但近年来研究表明,酞酸酯是一类环境内分泌干扰物,在人和其他动物体内有着类似雌激素的作用,影响生殖系统功能,并且具有"三致"效应.我国设施土壤中酞酸酯污染较为普遍,不仅对土壤生态...     

Microbial community phenotypic profiles change markedly with depth within the first centimetre of the arable soil surface

The nature of the first few millimetres of a soil horizon strongly affects water infiltration rates, generation of run-off, and soil detachment. Whilst much is known about the physics and erosion of soil surfaces at this scale, little is known about their microbiology, particularly in temperate arable systems. This investigation aimed to discover whether any early colonisation stages of microbiotic crusts exist within the soil surface of temperate arable systems. The phenotypic structure of the microbial community was measured by means of phospholipid fatty acid analysis (PLFA) in soils sampled from the surface of arable fields that had been either cultivated 4 weeks previously or left undisturbed for 4-6 months. Within the top circa 1 mm of the soil that had been undisturbed for 6 months or more, distinct microbial communities were found to be present, which were statistically significantly different from the communities found in subsequent depths to circa 10 mm, where differences between communities were less pronounced. The PLFA responsible for the majority of the variation seen between depths was 16:0, the proportion of which was shown to decrease with depth. This was not the case in the recently cultivated soils, where communities were more homogeneous with respect to depth.     

长期三水平磷肥施用梯度对砂姜黑土细菌群落结构和酶活性的影响

磷素缺乏是砂姜黑土区作物生产的重要限制因子,然而不同磷肥施用量如何影响微生物群落结构尚不清楚。以安徽蒙城氮磷钾肥肥效长期定位试验为平台,选取P0(不施磷肥)、P1(P2O545 kg·hm~(–2))和P2(P2O590kg·hm~(–2))三个磷肥施用梯度,明确土壤理化性质、土壤酶活性及细菌群落结构之间关系。研究表明长期施用磷肥显著提升土壤肥力:与P0相比,P2处理土壤有机碳、可溶性有机碳、全磷、有效磷和铵态氮分别增长10.33%、31.36%、40.00%、384.19%和79.49%。变形菌门(Proteobacteria)、放线菌门(Actinobacteria)和酸杆菌门(Acidobacteria)是砂姜黑土中的优势菌,相对丰度分别为40.16%、19.75%和14.91%。长期施用磷肥可显著提高细菌多样性,改变细菌群落结构:P1和P2处理中的香农指数分别较P0处理提高2.49%和4.52%;具有溶磷作用的3个门(放线菌门、浮霉菌门(Planctomycetes)和拟杆菌门(Bacteroidetes))和3个属(Terracoccus、Flavisolibacter和Arthrobacter)相对丰度随磷肥施入而显著升高,而一些寡营养型细菌(绿弯菌门(Chloroflexi)和疣微菌门(Verrucomicrobia))、具有反硝化作用(Kaistobacter和Rhodanobacter)和固氮作用(Bradyrhizobium和Burkholderia)的细菌相对丰度则在P2处理中显著降低。主坐标和多元回归树分析表明可溶性有机碳和全磷是导致不同磷肥处理中细菌群落结构差异的主要因素。b-葡糖苷酶、蛋白酶和脱氢酶等活性均随磷肥施入量增加而显著升高,酸性磷酸酶活性则没有显著变化。上述四种酶活性均与拟杆菌门、Flavisolibacter属等在施磷处理中富集的微生物成显著正相关。以上结果表明长期施用磷肥导致的土壤理化性质变化驱动土壤细菌群落变化,从而提高与碳氮循环转化相关微生物活性,其中可溶性有机碳和全磷是导致细菌群落结构改变的关键理化因子。     

It takes an individual plant to raise a community: TRFLP analysis of the rhizosphere microbial community of two pairs of high- and low-metal-accumulating plants

We used terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) analysis to look at the microbial community profiles of the rhizosphere surrounding two pairs of high- and low-metal (Cd)-accumulating plants (Brassica and Triticum). Unexpectedly, the microbial community did not vary with soil type, time, plant type, or metal-accumulating ability of the plant. Instead, when a plant's metal-accumulating ability was well matched to the level of metal contamination in the soil, the microbial populations in the rhizosphere were different than those of the seed endophytes and bulk soil. Unmatched plants had the same microbial community as bulk soil. The plant interaction with the soil, therefore, is essential to forming the bacterial community in the rhizosphere.     

Organic nitrogen cycling microbial communities are abundant in a dry Australian agricultural soil

Some microbial nitrogen (N) cycling processes continue under low soil moisture levels in drought-adapted ecosystems. These processes are of particular importance in winter cropping systems, where N availability during autumn sowing informs fertilizer practices and impacts crop productivity. We evaluated the organic and inorganic N-cycling communities in a key cropping soil (Vertosol), using a controlled-environment incubation study that was designed to model the autumn break in south Australian grain growing regions. Soils from wheat, lucerne, and green manure (disced-in vetch) rotations of the Sustainable Cropping Rotations in Mediterranean Environments trial (Victoria, Australia) were collected during the summer when soil moisture was low. Microbial community structure and functional capacity were measured both before and after wetting (21, 49, and 77 days post-wetting) using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism measures of bacterial and fungal communities, and quantitative PCR of nitrogen cycling genes. Quantified genes included those associated with organic matter decomposition (laccase, cellobiohydrolase), mineralization of N from organic matter (peptidases) and nitrification (bacterial and archaeal ammonia monooxygenase and nitrite oxidoreductase). In general, the N cycling functional capacity decreased with soil wetting, and there was an apparent shift from organic-N cycling dominance to autotrophic mineral-N cycling dominance. Soil nitrate levels were best predicted by laccase and neutral peptidase genes under drought conditions, but by neutral peptidase and bacterial ammonia monooxygenase genes under moist conditions. Rotation history affected both the structural and functional resilience of the soil microbial communities to changing soil moisture. Discing in green manure (vetch) residues promoted a resilient microbial community, with a high organic-N cycling capacity in dry soils. Although this was a small-scale microcosm study, our results suggest that management strategies could be developed to control microbial organic-N processing during the summer fallow period and thus improve crop-available N levels at sowing.     

Warming and elevated CO2 combine to increase microbial mineralisation of soil organic matter

The net annual exchange of carbon between the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems is of prime importance in determining the concentration of CO₂ ([CO₂]) in the atmosphere and consequently future climate. Carbon loss occurs primarily through soil respiration; it is known that respiration is sensitive to the global changes in [CO₂] and temperature, suggesting that the net carbon balance may change in the future. However, field manipulations of temperature and [CO₂] alter many important environmental factors so it is unclear how much of the observed alterations in soil respiration is due to changes of microbial function itself instead of changes to the physical and chemical environment. Here we focus on resolving the importance of changes in the microbial community in response to warming and elevated [CO₂] on carbon mineralisation, something not possible in field measurements. We took plant material and soil inocula from a long running experiment where native grassland had been exposed to both warming and elevated CO₂ and constructed a reciprocal transplant experiment. We found that the rate of decomposition (heterotrophic respiration) was strongly determined by the origin of the microbial community. The combined warming + elevated CO₂ treatment produced a soil community that gave respiration rates 30% higher when provided with shoot litter and 70% for root litter than elevated CO₂ treatment alone, with the treatment source of the litter being unimportant. Warming, especially in the presence of elevated CO₂, increased the size of the apparent labile carbon pool when either C₃ or C₄ litter was added. Thus, the metabolic activity of the soil community was affected by the combination of warming and elevated CO₂ such that it had an increased ability to mineralise added organic matter, regardless of its source. Therefore, soil C efflux may be substantially increased in a warmer, high CO₂ world. Current ecosystem models mostly drive heterotrophic respiration from plant litter quality, soil moisture and temperature but our findings suggest equal attention will need to be paid to capturing microbial processes if we are to accurately project the future C balance of terrestrial ecosystems and quantify the feedback effect on atmospheric concentrations of CO₂.     

Changes in microbial community metabolism and labile organic matter fractions as early indicators of the impact of management on soil biological quality

 Changes to the metabolic profiles of soil microbial communities could have potential for use as early indicators of the impact of management or other perturbations on soil functioning and soil quality. We compared the relative susceptibility to management of microbial community metabolism with a number of soil organic matter (OM) and microbial parameters currently used as indicators of changes in soil biological quality. Following long-term cereal cropping, plots were subjected to a 16-month treatment period consisting of either a mixed cropping sequence of vetch, spring barley and clover or a continuous grass-clover ley which was periodically mown and mulched. The treatments had no effect on soil biomass N or respiration of microbial populations inoculated into Biolog Gram negative (GN) plates. After 16 months there were no management-induced changes to total OM, light-fraction OM C and N, labile organic N or water-soluble carbohydrates. However, patterns of substrate utilization by the soil microbial population following inoculation into Biolog GN plates were found to be highly sensitive to management practice. In the mixed cropping sequence, substrate utilization changed markedly following plough-in of the vetch crop, with a smaller change occurring after harvesting of the barley. In the ley treatment, substrate utilization was not affected until the onset of mowing, when the pattern changed to become similar to that in the mixed cropping sequence. Metabolic diversity of the Biolog-culturable microbial population was increased by the ley treatment, but was not affected by the cropping sequence. We conclude that patterns of microbial substrate utilization and metabolic diversity are more sensitive to the effects of management than are OM and biomass pools, and therefore have value as early indicators of the impacts of management on soil biological properties, and hence soil quality. Received: 7 April 1999     

Soil test levels of potassium,yields, and seed size in soybean cultivars

Abstract

The effect of soil test levels of K (1 N, NH₄OAc) on yields of soybean (Glycine max Merr) reproductive growth, seed size and numbers were evaluated for early, medium, and late maturing cultivars on a Maury silt loam (Typic Paleudalf). Relative yields were near maximum when extractable K was approximately 210 pp2m. Concentrations of K in uppermost, fully expanded leaves at flower initiation at the high production level were approximately 2.0 to 2.15%.

Neither dates of flower initiation nor pod maturation of the three cultivars, Bonus, Cutler 71, and Williams, were altered by K nutrition. Either seed size or seed number were approximately equally capable of serving as a mechanism for increasing yield in response to improved K nutrition. Among cultivars, Bonus tended to have more smaller seeds, whereas Cutler 71 tended to have larger seeds with fewer seeds being produced.     

Variation in developmental patterns of wild barley (Hordeum spontaneum L.) and cultivated barley (H. vulgare L.)

Summary Six wild barley (Hordeum spontaneum) accessions, from a diverse range of habitats, and two spring-cultivated barleys, were examined for variation in durations of development phases. The durations of the leaf initiation and spikelet initiation phases were longer and spikelet growth phases shorter, in wild than in cultivated barley. Across all wild and cultivated barleys the rate and duration of spikelet initiation were negatively correlated, but neither was related to the number of spikelets per spike. The number of spikelets was positively correlated with the number of leaves and the ratio of the number of spikelets to the number of leaves declined with increasing time to anthesis, indicating that each successive leaf was associated with a diminishing increase in the number of spikelets. The duration of culm elongation and final culm length were shorter in accessions of cultivated barley compared with wild barley. This paper also discusses the feasibility for increasing the number of spikelets per spike through breeding for genetic changes in lengths of pre-anthesis phases of development.Abbreviations ANOVA Analysis of variance - HV Hordeum vulgare - CE Culm elongation - DR Double ridge - HS Hordeum spontaneu - ° Cd Degree days