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ARS Home » Plains Area » Temple, Texas » Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #228211
Title: Simple and rapid laboratory method for rewetting dry soil for incubations

Author
item Haney, Richard
item HANEY, E - RR COMMISSION OF TEXAS

Submitted to: Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/12/2010
Publication Date: 6/25/2010
Citation: Haney, R.L., Haney, E.B. 2010. Simple and rapid laboratory method for rewetting dry soil for incubations. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis. 41(12):1493-1501.

Interpretive Summary: Soil microbes take in O2 and release CO2. Measurements for the activity of soil microbes can be time-consuming. Soil microbes need adequate moisture to function properly. This paper describes a simple and rapid method to insure that the correct amount of water is added to soil samples. The method uses the soils’ natural ability to hold the appropriate amount of water for peak soil microbial CO2 release.

Technical Abstract: Soil microbial activity is highly affected by soil-water content. Determining the appropriate moisture content to rewet soils that have been dried for laboratory incubations, can be laborious and time-consuming. The most common methods used achieve sufficient moisture content for peak microbial respiration are gravimetric water content, soil matric potential or percent water-filled pore space (WFPS) (Franzluebbers, 1999, Maysoon et al. 2004, Fierer and Schimel, 2003). Alternatively, a fast, simple and accurate way to insure that a given soil receives the appropriate amount of water for peak soil microbial respiration is to use the natural capillary action of the soil.