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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #93530
Title: STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL RECOVERY OF FOREST SOIL MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES FOLLOWING SIMULATED FOREST FIRES

Author
item CHOROMANSKA, S - UNIV. OF MONTANA
item Tesch, Stanley
item Buyer, Jeffrey
item DELUCA, T - UNIV. OF MONTANA

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/1/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Moist forest soils were briefly heated to 350C and incubated at 25C for 28 days. Control samples were not heated. Samples were taken at 0, 1, 3, 7, 14, and 28 days. Microbial communities were characterized functionally with a substrate utilization assay (Biolog). Structural characterization of the communities was accomplished by fatty acid analysis. Potential heterotrophy, as measured by total absorbance on the Biolog plate, was greater in the heated samples than in the control samples after 7 days of incubation. Both the substrate utilization assay and the fatty acid analysis clearly distinguished between the heated and control samples with a multivariate analysis. Fatty acid biomarker data indicate that the heated samples had greater microbial biomass and higher levels of eubacteria, gram positive bacteria, fungi, and protozoa after 7 days.