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Title: CHLOROFORM FUMIGATION-INCUBATION: IS IT THE SAME OLD THING?

Author
item Franzluebbers, Alan
item HANEY, R - TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
item HONS, F - TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/21/2001
Publication Date: 10/21/2001
Citation: Franzluebbers, A.J., Haney, R.L., Hons, F.M. 2001. Chloroform fumigation-incubation: is it the same old thing?. Agronomy Abstracts.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Soil microbial biomass methodology is diverse. One of the first biochemical approaches for estimating soil microbial biomass was chloroform fumigation- incubation (CFI). However, the original CFI method employed an unfumigated control sample, in which the C mineralized was subtracted from that of the fumigated sample. This procedure was used extensively in soil biological investigations until negative estimates of microbial biomass became frequently reported in soils receiving recent organic amendments and in soils with low pH. The method was nearly abandoned once the chloroform fumigation-extraction (CFE) method was proposed. Whether the CFE method gives reliable estimates of soil microbial biomass or not, it is now the most widely used method employed. We present our view of why the CFI method is still a valid method for determining the biologically active portion of soil, if only a control sample were not part of the calculation. Hence, the eCFI method is a relatively old procedure that should be a part of soil biological testing, but the methodology must simply be updated in calculation.