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Influence of available aluminium on soil micro‐organisms
Author(s) -
Illmer P.,
Marschall K.,
Schinner F.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
letters in applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.698
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1472-765X
pISSN - 0266-8254
DOI - 10.1111/j.1472-765x.1995.tb01090.x
Subject(s) - mineralization (soil science) , soil water , environmental chemistry , soil respiration , biomass (ecology) , chemistry , soil ph , organic matter , environmental science , aluminium , soil organic matter , agronomy , soil science , ecology , biology , organic chemistry
P. ILLMER, K. MARSCHALL AND F. SCHINNER. 1995. Forest soils were selected which covered a wide range of aluminium concentrations (7 to μmol g ‐1 dry matter), but which differed as little as possible from one another in their soil chemical characteristics, including pH. These soils were examined with respect to microbial biomass and respiration, activity of cellulase, N‐mineralization, colony‐forming units of bacteria and fungi, and the concentrations of several inorganic soil components. The influences of altitude, climate, vegetation and, especially, of soil acidity could be kept to a minimum and so differences between the soil microfloras could clearly be attributed to Al concentration. Al concentration was recognized to be the main inhibiting factor for the microbial biomass in soil. While N‐mineralization was severely inhibited by aluminium, cellulase activity was hardly affected by increasing Al concentrations. By taking the Al concentration along with various other soil chemical parameters a linear model could be developed that allowed more than 98% of the variability of the microbial biomass in soil to be explained.