Agronomy journal, Vol. 69 No. 6, 2007.
Original scientific paper
MICROBIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF DIFFERENT SOIL TYPES IN WESTERN HERZEGOVINA
Višnja Vasilj
; Agronomski fakultet Sveučilišta u Mostaru, Mostar, Bosna i Hercegovina
Sulejman Redžepović
; Agronomski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Matko Bogunović
; Agronomski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Katarina Babić
; Agronomski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sanja Sikora
; Agronomski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Abstract
Microbes have a key role in synthesis and mineralization of soil organic matter and it is important to estimate their abundance and activity rates in different soil types at various levels of anthropogenic influence. The aim of this study was to evaluate the microbial biomass in different soil types of western Herzegovina as well as to determine the abundance of cellulolytic microorganisms and functional groups involved in the nitrogen cycle. Effect of different environmental factors in interaction with type of vegetation upon microbial population dynamics and structure was observed. The results obtained for total number of microorganisms revealed that microbial biomass content is of a middle value in the surface layer while this value is lower in the subsurface layer in all investigated soil types. Significant influence of season, soil depth and their interaction upon number of ammonifiers was also determined. The abundance of nitrifying bacteria in most of the soil types was relatively low and was influenced by a certain pedosystematic unit and season. Only in a certain soil types, the presence of the free-living dinitrogen-fixing bacteria, Azotobacter chroococcum was determined. Compared to cellulolytic bacteria, higher abundance of cellulolytic fungi was determined in all soil types.
Keywords
microbial biomass; amonnifiers; nitrifying bacteria; Azotobacter chroococcum; cellulolytic microorganisms
Hrčak ID:
26587
URI
Publication date:
31.12.2007.
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