Soil microbial biomass: The eco-physiological approach

In the 1980s ecosystem research projects were implemented world-wide since there was a pressing need to quantify the impacts of anthropogenic pollutants. Soil ecosystem analyses concentrated first on the quantification of the element and energy transfer between pools. Since mineralization of organic substrates and the release of nutrients and elements are due to the heterotrophic activity of the microbial decomposer compartment, this subsystem of terrestrial ecosystems gained importance. Direct microscopic observation methods were inadequate for the quantification of environmental impacts on the microflora. We adopted the maintenance requirement concept for the quantification of environmental impacts or stress effects on the soil microbial community. The paper gives a brief inside to the concept of maintenance from autecological studies and describes the underlying points which lead to our experimental approach of its application at the synecological level (i.e., microbial biomass as a single ecological entity) - a process which rested on long-term continuous research.