It is generally predicted that global warming will stimulate primary production and lead to more carbon (C) inputs to soil. However, many studies have found that soil C does not necessarily increase with increased plant litter input. Precipitation has increased in arid central Asia, and is predicted to increase more, so we tested the effects of adding fresh organic matter (FOM) and water on soi...

An experiment was performed to study the effect of feeding by the larvae of Tipula paludosa (Meig.) on the plant biomass of two contrasting plant species and on the soil microbial community, under controlled conditions. Agrostis capillaris (L.) (bentgrass) and Trifolium repens (L.) (white clover), were grown in pots, in monoculture and as mixtures, containing soil from an upland grassland site ...

Measurements of the average growth rates of soil bacteria from a soil under three treatments; a conventional high input corn soybean rotation, a reversion to a native successional community (4 years) and a never ploughed grassland, were made by two methods. The specific rates of synthesis of bacterial DNA were determined from the specific activities of the DNA precursor, deoxythymidine triphosp...

Metal pollution can affect soil microbial communities, and vegetation potentially influences this relationship. It can, for example, modify the toxicity of metal to soil microbes by controlling its input to the ground or by altering soil physicochemical properties. This study examined metal effects on soil respiration, potentially active microbial biomass (SIR) and catabolic abilities of cultur...

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE Microbial biomass plays an important role in nutrient transformation and conservation of forest and grassland ecosystems. The objective of this study was to determine the microbial biomass among three vegetation types in subalpine mountain forest soils of Taiwan. METHODS Tatachia is a typical high-altitude subalpine temperate forest ecosystem in Taiwan with an elevation of ...

Nanosized zero-valent iron (nZVI) is an effective land remediation tool, but there remains little information regarding its impact upon and interactions with the soil microbial community. nZVI stabilised with sodium carboxymethyl cellulose was applied to soils of three contrasting textures and organic matter contents to determine impacts on soil microbial biomass, phenotypic (phospholipid fatty...

The growth of watermelon is often threatened by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum (Fon) in successively monocultured soil, which results in economic loss. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of D123 wheat as a companion crop on soil enzyme activities, microbial biomass and microbial communities in the rhizosphere of watermelon and to explore the relationship between the eff...

ABSTRACT: Overall plant growth and microbial biomass can be effected by dust accumulation. The chloroform fumigation-extraction method was used to evaluating the effect of cement dust pollution emitted from Kurdistan cement factory on soil microbial biomass carbon. Chlorophyll content (a, b and total) of plants species was measured in different distance from cement factory. Mic...

In recent decades, degradation of ecosystem in the steppe region of the Inner Mongolia Plateau, especially in riparian floodplain wetlands, has become a significant ecological crisis. Not uncommonly, with the increasing of livestock in the Inner Mongolian steppe region, a riparian floodplain wetland is becoming a hotspot area of grazing for local herdsmen. Hence, it is essential to understand d...