Search results for "soil biology"
showing 10 items of 109 documents
Mapping spatial patterns of denitrifiers for bridging community ecology and microbial processes along environmental gradients
2009
International audience; While there is ample evidence that microbial processes can exhibit large variations at a field scale, very little is known about the spatial distribution of the communities mediating these processes. The objective of this study was to explore spatial patterns of size and activity of the denitrifying community, a functional guild involved in N-cycling, in a grassland field subjected to different cattle grazing regimes. We used geostatistical modeling to map the distribution of size and activity of the denitrifier community in the pasture. Size of the denitrifier community was estimated by PCR quantification of the denitrification gene copy numbers while its activity w…
Microalgae community structure analysis based on 18S rDNA amplification from DNA extracted directly from soil as a potential soil bioindicator
2005
International audience; Soil algae are photosynthetically active microorganisms showing changeable community structure, depending on the soil type, the agricultural practices and the application of pesticides. To characterise algal community structure, molecular approaches complementary to classical microbiological approaches based on the isolation and the culture of soil algae are required. Our study describes a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approach targeting algal 18S rDNA sequences of desoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) samples extracted either from unialgal eukaryotic microalgae culture, complex assemblages of microalgae populations or natural soil communities. Our first results showed that…
Enhanced isoproturon mineralisation in a clay silt loam agricultural soil
2005
International audience; 14C-ring-labelled isoproturon mineralisation was investigated in a French agricultural soil previously exposed to isoproturon. 50 different soil samples collected every 2 m along a transect of 100 m in length were treated one or two times with isoproturon under laboratory conditions and analysed by radiorespirometry. 94% of the soil samples showed a high ability to mineralise isoproturon with a relatively low variability in the cumulative percentage of mineralisation ranging from 30 to 51% of the initially added radioactivity for the samples treated once with the herbicide. About 45 to 67% of the initially added radioactivity was transformed into 14CO2 in soil sample…
Ecological networks in managed ecosystems: Connecting structure to services
2017
Introduction Ecological networks represent a cornerstone of ecology: they describe and evaluate the links between form and function in multispecies systems, such as food-web structure and dynamics, and they connect different scales and levels of biological organization (Moore and de Ruiter, 2012; Wall et al., 2015). These properties of being able to elucidate both the structure within complex systems and their scaling indicate that ecological networks and network theory could be widely applied to practical problems, including management decision-making processes such as the design of nature reserves and the preservation of ecosystem services. While the study of networks – initially food-web…
Earthworms and pH affect communities of nematodes and enchytraeids in forest soil
2003
In northern boreal forests the occurrence of endogeic and anecic earthworms is determined by soil pH. Increasing evidence suggests that large detritivorous soil animals such as earthworms can influence the other components of the decomposer community. To study the effects of earthworms and pH on soil nematode and enchytraeid communities, a factorially designed experiment was conducted with Lumbricus rubellus and/or Aporrectodea caliginosa. Earthworms were added to "mesocosms" containing unlimed (pH 4.8) or limed (pH 6.1) coniferous mor humus with their natural biota of micro-organisms. In the absence of earthworms, nematodes were significantly more abundant in limed than in unlimed humus. E…
Bioaccumulation of organochlorine compounds in earthworms
1992
Abstract Bioaccumulation of chlorophenolic wood preservatives 2,3,4,6-tetrachlorophenol (2346-TeCP) and pentachlorophenol (PeCP) and their metabolites in earthworms were studied in the laboratory, and by taking worm samples from the contaminated soil of a sawmill which was abandoned 28 yr ago. In two laboratory experiments 2346-TeCP (containing PeCP as impurity) was added into the soil, and samples were taken at certain intervals both from the soil and the earthworms ( Lumbricus rubellus in experiment 1 and Aporrectodea caliginosa tuberculata in experiment 2). Considerable amounts of chlorophenols were found in field samples. Soil concentrations ranged from 157 to 338 μg 2346-TeCP g −1 dry …
Aerobic Endospore-forming Bacteria and Soil Invertebrates
2011
The intestinal microbiotas of only a few soil invertebrates such as collembola (springtails), earthworms, nematodes, isopods (woodlice and pill bugs), millipedes and termites have been studied by classical and molecular methods in the last decades. It became obvious that these lower members of the soil biota harbour complex microbial communities that sometimes reach counts of 1011 cells ml−1 in their intestinal tracts. The gut microbiotas of the soil fauna include a variety of microorganisms from all three domains of life (Bacteria, Archaea, Eucarya). The bacterial species can mainly be assigned to the Gram-positive phyla Firmicutes and Actinobacteria as well as the Gram-negative phyla Prot…
Composition and Trophic Structure of Detrital Food Web in Ant Nest Mounds of Formica aquilonia and in the Surrounding Forest Soil
1998
Community composition and food web structure of soil decomposer biota in relation to various habitat properties were compared between upper parts of red wood ant (Formica aquilonia) nest mounds and the adjacent forest soil. For a description of trophic structure of the decomposer community in the two habitats, soil decomposers were classified into 14 trophic groups. Classification of the taxa into three habitat preference categories resulted in a clear division of the fauna into either soil or nest specialists, relatively few taxa falling between these two groups. A large majority of the nest specialists belonged to a non-myrmecophilous soil decomposer fauna so far largely overlooked in stu…
Growth increase of birch seedlings under the influence of earthworms—a laboratory study
1992
The effects of the earthworm Lumbricus rubellus (Hoffm.) on net production and nitrogen content of birch seedlings were studied in laboratory microcosms. Coniferous forest floors with litter, humus and mineral horizons were simulated in transparent plastic cylinders. The materials were partially sterilized by microwaving, and re-inoculated with microflora and -fauna. A young (9 cm) birch seedling (Betula pendula Roth) was planted in each container. Earthworms were added to half of the replicates. The microcosms, through which a constant air flow was maintained, were incubated in a climate chamber. After two growth periods, leaf and stem biomasses of birch in treatments with earthworms incre…
Responses of soil decomposer animals to wood-ash fertilisation and burning in a coniferous forest stand
2000
Abstract Responses of soil decomposer animals (enchytraeids and microarthropods) to wood-ash fertilisation (1000 and 5000 kg ha−1) and a fire treatment mimicking prescribed burning were studied in a Scots pine stand in central Finland. The experiment was conducted on 30 × 30 m2 plots, each treatment being replicated four times. Soil animals were sampled throughout the growing season in the third year after the treatments. As a rule, numbers of soil animals increased during the study period. Numbers of the only enchytraeid worm species found at the study site, Cognettia sphagnetorum, were lower in the plots with higher ash level and plots which have been burned. In the plots having these tre…