Microbial population dynamics related to temporal variations in nitrification in three arable fields

It seems possible that soil potential nitrification rates (PNRs) are determined by the size and structure of both the eubacterial and nitrifier populations. We have examined this possibility by comparing the structure of the eubacterial community with the subcomponents and dynamics of the ammonium‐oxidizer population, within and between three arable fields. PNRs were significantly different between the three fields and also showed significantly different temporal patterns within each field. The use of eubacterial primers in polymerase chain reaction–denaturing gel gradient electrophoresis (PCR–DGGE) analyses indicated that the bacterial community structure in each field was significantly different from that in the others, and that the bacterial components of these communities changed with time through the season. In contrast, PCR–DGGE analyses specific to ammonium oxidizers suggested that the populations in all three fields were similar in types and did not vary with time. Competitive PCR suggested that there were large and biologically significant differences in the size of the nitrifier population between the three fields, but that within each individual field populations did not change over time. Sequencing identified the ammonium oxidizers in the Nitrosospira spp. cluster. There was also no relation between the size of the nitrifier populations and PNR. Functional expression, as PNR, apparently responded to changes in eubacterial community structure.