Search results for "Biomass carbon"
showing 5 items of 5 documents
Soil microbial biomass carbon and fatty acid composition of earthworm Lumbricus rubellus after exposure to engineered nanoparticles
2014
none 6 no First Online: 14 October 2014 The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of engineered nanoparticles (NPs) on soil microbial biomass C (MBC) and on earthworm Lumbricus rubellus. An artificial soil was incubated for 4 weeks with earthworms fed with vegetable residues contaminated by NPs, consisting of Ag, Co, Ni and TiO2. After the treatments, soils were analysed for MBC and total and water soluble metal-NPs, whereas earthworms were purged for 28 days and then analysed for fatty acids (FAs) and total metal-NPs. Longitudinal sections of earthworms were investigated by environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM), equipped with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS),…
Microbial biomass carbon dynamics in a long-term tillage and crop rotation experiment under semiarid Mediterranean conditions
2015
Microbial biomass carbon (MBC) of soil is an important ecological indicator of nutrient cycling and soil fertility. In addition, it responds to the changes of soil fertility more rapidly than soil organic matter. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the effect of a long-term implementation of a conservative soil management strategy (No Tillage [NT]) compared to the inversion tillage (conventional tillage [CT]) on the soil MBC in a range of crops - continuous durum wheat (WW), wheat after fababean (FW) and faba bean after wheat (WF). MBC of NT plots was higher than CT. In addition, the content of MBC varied with sampling time during the growing season; this variation did not show a co…
SOIL QUALITY INDICATORS AS AFFECTED BY SHALLOW TILLAGE IN A VINEYARD GROWN IN A SEMIARID MEDITERRANEAN ENVIRONMENT
2016
Within the Mediterranean basin, soil tillage enhances the mineralisation of soil organic matter. We assessed the short-term impact of shallow tillage [field cultivator (FC), rotary tiller (RT) and spading machine (SM)] on some soil quality indicators [bulk density, water-stable aggregates, total and labile organic C pools (microbial biomass and extractable organic C), soil respiration and related eco-physiological indexes] in a Sicilian vineyard. Also no tillage was included. We hypothesized that (i) RT and FC worsened soil quality indicators more than SM, and (ii) within the same tillage system, labile C pools, soil respiration and eco-physiological indexes will respond more efficiently th…
Determination of enzymatic activities using a miniaturized system as a rapid method to assess soil quality
2014
Summary Soil quality determination requires the analysis of a number of soil attributes using different approaches. In recent years, one of the most promising approaches has been the determination of enzymatic activities. Generally, only a few enzymes have been analysed and related to other soil properties such as total carbon, nitrogen content or microbial biomass carbon. The aim of this work was to investigate the possible use of the API ZYM strip, a semi-quantitative miniaturized system that determines 19 enzymatic activities, to study soil quality. To this end, we tested the system in different soil types, including albic Arenosols, mollic Leptosols, rendzic Leptosols, haplic Leptosols …
Response of microbial biomass and carbon dynamics to changing hydrological conditions in old peat deposits
2018
Peatlands play key roles in the global ecosystem carbon (C) balance, as important C-stores. Their efficiency as long-term C-stores or atmospheric C sink is affected by the rate of microbial mineralization. Most studies on the climate change effects on the microbial communities and C-cycling in peatlands have focused on the surface layers. This thesis compared microbial biomass, community composition and internal C cycling processes in drained vs. natural peat profiles with focus on deep old peat. Using the phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) and rRNA gene analyses, the study particularly looked at the impact of long-term drainage and the short-term effects of temperature and water content on the…