Soil structural aspects of decomposition of organic matter by micro-organisms

Soil architecture is the dominant control over microbially mediated decomposition processes in terrestrial ecosystems. Organic matter is physically protected in soil so that large amounts of well-decomposable compounds can be found in the vicinity of largely starving microbial populations. Among the mechanisms proposed to explain the phenomena of physical protection in soil are adsorption of organics on inorganic clay surfaces and entrapment of materials in aggregates or in places inaccessible to microbes. Indirect evidence for the existence of physical protection in soil is provided by the occurrence of a burst of microbial activity and related increased decomposition rates following disruption of soil structures, either by natural processes such as the remoistening of a dried soil or by human activities such as ploughing. In contrast, soil compaction has only little effect on the transformation of 14C-glucose.Another mechanism of control by soil structure and texture on decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems is through their impact on microbial turnover processes. The microbial population is not only the main biological agent of decomposition in soil, it is also an important, albeit small, pool through which most of the organic matter in soil passes.Estimates on the relative importance of different mechanisms controlling decomposition in soil could be derived from results of combined tracer and modelling studies. However, suitable methodology to quantify the relation between soil structure and biological processes as a function of different types and conditions of soils is still lacking.

[1]  P. Kuikman,et al.  Dynamics of Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar trifolii introduced into soil; the effect of bentonite clay on predation by protozoa , 1988 .

[2]  J. Oades.  An Introduction to Organic Matter in Mineral Soils , 2018, SSSA Book Series.

[3]  D. Coleman,et al.  Habitable pore space and microbial trophic interactions , 1980 .

[4]  D. S. Jenkinson,et al.  THE TURNOVER OF SOIL ORGANIC MATTER IN SOME OF THE ROTHAMSTED CLASSICAL EXPERIMENTS , 1977 .

[5]  D. Schimel,et al.  Biogeochemistry of C, N, and P in a Soil Catena of the Shortgrass Steppe , 1985 .

[6]  P. Kuikman,et al.  Effect of soil moisture regime on predation by protozoa of bacterial biomass and the release of bacterial nitrogen , 1989 .

[7]  A. Rovira,et al.  Ultrastructure of the root-soil interface , 1983 .

[8]  D. Coleman,et al.  LITTER PLACEMENT EFFECTS ON MICROBIAL AND ORGANIC MATTER DYNAMICS IN AN AGROECOSYSTEM , 1987 .

[9]  T. Harada,et al.  Studies on the organic nitrogen becoming decomposable through the effect of drying a soil , 1968 .

[10]  J. Oades,et al.  The retention of organic matter in soils , 1988 .

[11]  E. T. Elliott.  Aggregate structure and carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in native and cultivated soils , 1986 .

[12]  J. K. Martin,et al.  Turnover of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus through the microbial biomass in soils incubated with 14-C-, 15N- and 32P-labelled bacterial cells , 1987 .

[13]  M. Frissel,et al.  Simulation of nitrogen behaviour of soil-plant systems , 1981 .

[14]  J. A. Veen,et al.  Survival of Pseudomonas fluorescens and Bacillus subtilis introduced into two soils of different texture in field microplots , 1986 .

[15]  K. Domsch,et al.  Decomposition of 14C- and 15N-labelled microbial cells in soil , 1982 .

[16]  D. Jenkinson,et al.  Microbial biomass in soil: measurement and turnover. , 1981 .

[17]  G. Jager,et al.  Effect of repeated drying at different temperatures on soil organic matter decomposition and characteristics, and on the soil microflora , 1975 .

[18]  F. Allison,et al.  PROTEIN‐MONTMORILLONITE COMPLEXES, THEIR PREPARATION AND THE EFFECTS OF SOIL MICROORGANISMS ON THEIR DECOMPOSITION , 1954 .

[19]  J. Oades,et al.  Physical factors influencing decomposition of organic materials in soil aggregates , 1978 .

[20]  G. Sparling.  The Soil Biomass , 1985 .

[21]  A. Dijkstra,et al.  Survival of and introduced into two soils of different texture in field microplots , 1986 .

[22]  L. H. Sørensen,et al.  TRANSFORMATION OF ACETATE CARBON INTO CARBOHYDRATE AND AMINO ACID METABOLITES DURING DECOMPOSITION IN SOIL , 1971 .

[23]  J. Bartlett,et al.  Decomposition of lysine and leucine in soil aggregates: Adsorption and compartmentalization , 1988 .

[24]  L. Sørensen.  DURATION OF AMINO ACID METABOLITES FORMED IN SOILS DURING DECOMPOSITION OF CARBOHYDRATES , 1967 .

[25]  D. Anderson.  PROCESSES OF HUMUS FORMATION AND TRANSFORMATION IN SOILS OF THE CANADIAN GREAT PLAINS , 1979 .

[26]  P. Saunders,et al.  Models of microbial interactions in the soil. , 1976, CRC critical reviews in microbiology.

[27]  J. A. Veen,et al.  Influence of different initial soil moisture contents on the distribution and population dynamics of introduced Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar Trifolii , 1989 .

[28]  J. Oades,et al.  Decomposition of plant material in Australian soils. III. Residual organic and microbial biomass C and N from isotope-labelled legume material and soil organic matter, decomposing under field conditions , 1985 .

[29]  D. Smiles.  Aspects of the physical environment of soil organisms , 1988, Biology and Fertility of Soils.

[30]  K. Domsch,et al.  Mineralization of bacteria and fungi in chloroform-fumigated soils , 1978 .

[31]  L. H. Sørensen.  Rate of decomposition of organic matter in soil as influenced by repeated air drying-rewetting and repeated additions of organic material , 1974 .

[32]  D. J. Campbell,et al.  Compaction by agricultural vehicles: A review III. Incidence and control of compaction in crop production , 1982 .

[33]  O. L. Smith.  Soil microbiology : a model of decomposition and nutrient cycling. , 1982 .

[34]  E. Paul,et al.  ORGANIC CARBON DYNAMICS IN GRASSLAND SOILS. 1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND COMPUTER SIMULATION , 1981 .

[35]  J. V. Veen,et al.  Turnover of carbon and nitrogen through the microbial biomass in a sandy loam and a clay soil incubated with [14C(U)]glucose and [15N](NH4)2So4 under different moisture regimes , 1985 .

[36]  A. Thomasson,et al.  Bulk-density as an indicator of pore space in soils usable by nematodes , 1976 .

[37]  W. Parton,et al.  Dynamics of C, N, P and S in grassland soils: a model , 1988 .

[38]  M. Frissel,et al.  Modelling C and N turnover through the microbial biomass in soil , 1984 .

[39]  L. H. Sørensen,et al.  Carbon-nitrogen relationships during the humification of cellulose in soils containing different amounts of clay , 1981 .

[40]  E. Paul,et al.  ORGANIC C DYNAMICS IN GRASSLAND SOILS. 2. MODEL VALIDATION AND SIMULATION OF THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF CULTIVATION AND RAINFALL EROSION , 1981 .

[41]  J. Lipman,et al.  NITROGEN LOSSES UNDER INTENSIVE CROPPING , 1921 .

[42]  H. Birch.  The effect of soil drying on humus decomposition and nitrogen availability , 1958, Plant and Soil.

[43]  Z. Filip.  Wechselwirkungen von Mikroorganismen und Tonmineralen-eine Übersicht , 1979 .

[44]  K. A. Horton,et al.  Soil organic matter dynamics in paired rangeland and cropland toposequences in North Dakota , 1985 .

[45]  J. Tisdall,et al.  Organic matter and water‐stable aggregates in soils , 1982 .

[46]  L. H. Sørensen.  The influence of clay on the rate of decay of amino acid metabolites synthesized in soils during decomposition of cellulose , 1975 .

[47]  F. W. Chichester,et al.  Incorporation of 15N-Tagged Mineral Nitrogen into Stable Forms of Soil Organic Nitrogen1 , 1971 .

[48]  D. Coleman,et al.  Detritus Food Webs in Conventional and No-tillage Agroecosystems , 1986 .