Soil microbial biomass estimates in soils contaminated with metals

The validity of the chloroform fumigation-incubation procedure for measuring soil microbial biomass in field soils contaminated with metals (e.g. Cu, Ni, Zn, Cd) was assessed. The metal contamination was the result of past sewage sludge additions and the contaminated field soils now contain metals at about current maximum U.K. recommended levels. The decomposition of native soil biomass or microbial material added after fumigation was little affected by the presence of metals and it was concluded that fumigation-incubation is a reliable procedure for measuring biomass in soils contaminated with moderate amounts of metals. This conclusion was confirmed by direct microscopy: similar soil biomass estimates were obtained by both methods.