Soil restoration under pasture after topsoil removal: Some factors influencing C and N mineralization and measurements of microbial biomass

Abstract

Factors influencing rates of C and N mineralization of soil and plant materials, and the reliability of different procedures for estimating microbial biomass, were measured in a soil (Typic Dystrochrept) that had been restored under grazed pasture in a temperate environment for 10-11 years after 20 cm of the original topsoil had been removed by stripping.Rates of net N mineralization were appreciably lower, but C02-C production higher, in the stripped than in the unstripped soil. These activities were not influenced directly by levels of soil mineral-N, but they were influenced by differences in plant composition. Herbage and litter, and roots, from the stripped plots were generally mineralized more readily to CO2-C, but more slowly to net mineral-N, than were the corresponding materials from the unstripped plots. Rates of mineralization of herbage and litter, or roots, were mainly indistinguishable in stripped and unstripped soil, whereas rates of mineralization of all standing dead material were lower in stripped soil.

A Comparative Assessment of Factors Which Influence Microbial Biomass Carbon and Nitrogen Levels in Soil

“…T h e microbial biomass during the rapid buildu p phases in plant succession is almost certainly related to both carbon and nitrogen limitation (Scheu, 1990;Zak et al, 1990), while later phases in the study of Scheu ( I 990) indicate the importance of phosphorus limitation also. Build-up of microbial biomass in the residual subsoil normally parallels the build-up of plants and soil organic matter and the microbial biomass has therefore frequently been proposed as an index of soil redevelopment (Ross et al, 1982;Durrall & Parkinson, 1987;Insam & Domsch, 1988;Srivastava, Jha & Singh, 1989;Ross et a / . Build-up of microbial biomass in the residual subsoil normally parallels the build-up of plants and soil organic matter and the microbial biomass has therefore frequently been proposed as an index of soil redevelopment (Ross et al, 1982;Durrall & Parkinson, 1987;Insam & Domsch, 1988;Srivastava, Jha & Singh, 1989;Ross et a / .…”

“…Soil microbial biomass tends to undergo a rapid decline upon topsoil removal and storage, such as is caused by mining Ross et al, 1984b;Visser, Griffiths & Parkinson, 1983;Visser et al, 1984). Build-up of microbial biomass in the residual subsoil normally parallels the build-up of plants and soil organic matter and the microbial biomass has therefore frequently been proposed as an index of soil redevelopment (Ross et al, 1982;Durrall & Parkinson, 1987;Insam & Domsch, 1988;Srivastava, Jha & Singh, 1989;Ross et a / . , 1990).…”

Soil organic carbon, nitrogen and microbial properties in contrasting forest ecosystems of north-east China under different regeneration scenarios

“…It has been reported that the quantity of soil microbes was lower in plantations relative to primary or naturally regenerated forests (Yang et al, 1998(Yang et al, , 1999. Interestingly, microbial biomass is the most active element of SOC (Jenkinson & Ladd, 1981;Insam et al, 1988;Ross et al, 1990;Bentham et al, 1992), and alterations in microbial biomass may be an early indication of changes in total organic matter, long before changes in total soil C and N can be reliably detected. Therefore, microbiological characteristics are recommended as useful ecological indicators of stress caused by anthropogenic activities (Powlson et al, 1987;Sparling, 1992;Bosatta & Agren, 1993;Jia et al, 2005;Zheng et al, 2005).…”

A review on the role of soil microbial biomass in eco-restoration of degraded ecosystem with special reference to mining areas

“…An interesting and important fact is that very little is known about the functional diversity and metabolic abilities of microbial communities is spontaneously developing mine spoil (Chodak et al, 2009). Ross et al, (1990) suggested that in the initial stage of the soil restoration, rate of mineralization of soil organic matter is dependent on substrate supply and the size of microbial population. The ratios of microbial biomass C: total C (Insam and Domsch 1988) and respiration: microbial C (Insam and Haselwandter 1989) have been proposed as measures of the success of reclamation efforts (Ross et al, 1990).…”

“…Ross et al, (1990) suggested that in the initial stage of the soil restoration, rate of mineralization of soil organic matter is dependent on substrate supply and the size of microbial population. The ratios of microbial biomass C: total C (Insam and Domsch 1988) and respiration: microbial C (Insam and Haselwandter 1989) have been proposed as measures of the success of reclamation efforts (Ross et al, 1990). Smith and Paul (1990) concluded that monitoring of changes in ratios of fungi to bacteria and in species diversity, biomass estimation could be a powerful method of prediction.…”