Abstract: | Short-term experiments for the estimation of long-term effects of inorganic pollutants on soil microbial activity The purpose of the present study was to develope a short-term laboratory method to predict long-term effects of inorganic pollutants on soil microbial activity. Experiments were carried out on a sandy cambisol which had been used in a long-term field plot of the Biologische Bundesanstalt in Berlin. The perfusion technique was suitable to prove long-term effects of concentrations of 50 mg Cd/kg and 1000 mg Pb/kg dry soil on dehydrogenase activity of the test soil. 200 mg Cd/kg and 4000 mg Pb/kg caused higher reductions in the perfusion experiment than in the long-term field trial. Due to the desorption of OH-ions and the dissolution of organic material, effects of NaF-additions were partly compensated in the short-term experiment. The lysimeter technique used here seems to be of minor value to simulate long-term effects of cadmium, lead, and fluorine because unadsorbed portions of these elements and their accompanying ions (e.g. Cl, NO3) are washed out of the system too slowly. The dehydrogenase activity was more valid to indicate long-term effects on soil microbial activity than ATP-contents and nitrification measurements did. |