The effect of cattle grazing on the soil nematode and protozoan communities, and on microbial biomass, was measured in Israel’s northern highlands. Three grazing areas were compared: (1) with 1 1 cow ha 1 y ; (2) 0 55 cow ha 1 y ; and (3) control—no grazing for almost 18 years. Soil samples were collected from the upper 10 cm level of each area (n1⁄4 24), in autumn, before the onset of the rain...

abstract soil microbiological criteria are a complex reflection of interactive metabolic processes that may not be evaluated only by measuring a single parameter but rather it requires the simultaneous determination of more parameters and combining them. the objective of this research was to study enzyme activities: microbial biomass carbon ratios in salinized and none-saline soils in the prese...

Purpose Shifts of microbial biomass and functional diversity under different vegetation patterns can impact the soil processes, and the specific knowledge about this can be used to develop sound vegetation restoration strategies. This study was devoted to examine the effects of different vegetation patterns on microbial biomass and functional diversity and explore the relationship between soil ...

Global environmental factors impact soil microbial communities and further affect organic matter decomposition, nutrient cycling and vegetation dynamic. However, little is known about the relative contributions of climate factors, soil properties, vegetation types, land management practices and spatial structure (which serves as a proxy for underlying effects of temperature and precipitation fo...

Although belowground ecosystems have been studied extensively and soil biota play integral roles in biogeochemical processes, surprisingly we have a limited understanding of global patterns in belowground biomass and community structure. To address this critical gap, we conducted a meta-analysis of published data (> 1300 datapoints) to compare belowground plant, microbial and faunal biomass acr...

The present investigation aimed to analyze the role of agroforestry systems in improving soil organic matter status, microbial activity and nitrogen availability with a view to effective management of the fertility of moderately alkaline soils. The study site was located at Karnal (29◦59′N, 76◦51′E, 250 m.s.l.) and the systems were characterized by a rice–berseem crop rotation; agrisilvicultura...

Changes in microbial characteristics in soils with increasing salinity were measured in 30 soil samples belonging to Kattikhel and Dargai soil series occuring in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of North West Pakistan during 2009. Microbial characteristics including microbial biomass C, microbial biomass N, C/N ratio in microbial biomass, N mineralization, nitrification, rate of CO2 evolution and cumulative ...

.soil microorganisms are important agents in nutrient cycling and energy flow. they are extremely sensitive to environmental changes. soil microbial biomass has been proposed as an index of soil stress and disturbance. the objective of this study was to determine the effects of barley (hordeum vulgare l.) residue amounts, burning, nitrogen fertilizer levels and tillage management on organic car...

Monoculture causes nutrient losses and leads to declines in soil fertility and biomass production over successive cultivation. The rhizosphere, a zone of usually high microbial activities and clearly distinct from bulk soil, is defined as the volume of soil around living roots and influenced by root activities. Here we investigated enzyme activities and microbial biomass in the rhizosphere unde...