Jinshui Wu

Seasonal responses in microbial biomass carbon, phosphorus and sulphur in soils under pasture

Abstract The response of the soil microbial biomass to seasonal changes was investigated in the field under pastures. These studies showed that over a 9-month period, microbial biomass carbon, phosphorus and sulphur (biomass C, P, S), and their ratios (C:P, C:S, and P:S) responded differently to changes in soil moisture and to the input of fresh organic materials. From October to December (1993), when plant residues were largely incorporated into the soils, biomass C and S increased by 150–210%. Biomass P did not increase over this time, having decreased by 22–64% over the dry summer (July to September). There was no obvious correlation between biomass C, P, and S and air temperature. The largest amounts of biomass C and P (2100–2300μg and 150–190μgg–1 soil, respectively) were found in those soils receiving farmyard manure (FYM or FYM+NPK) and P fertilizer, whereas the use of ammonium sulphate decreased biomass C and P. The C:P, C:S, and P:S ratios of the biomass varied considerably (9–276:1; 50–149:1; and 0.3–14:1, respectively) with season and fertilizer regime. This reflected the potential for the biomass to release (when ratios were narrow) or to immobilize (wide ratios) P and S at different times of the year. Thus, seasonal responses in biomass C, P, and S are important in controlling the cycling of C, P, and S in pasture and ultimately in regulating plant availability of P and S. The uptake of P in the pasture was well correlated with the sum of P in the biomass and soil available pools. Thus, the simultaneous measurement of microbial biomass P and available P provide useful information on the potential plant availability of P.

Impact of Long-Term Fertilization on the Composition of Denitrifier Communities Based on Nitrite Reductase Analyses in a Paddy Soil

The effect of long-term fertilization on soil-denitrifying communities was determined by measuring the abundance and diversity of the nitrite reductase genes nirK and nirS. Soil samples were collected from plots of a long-term fertilization experiment started in 1990, located in Taoyuan (110°72″ E, 28°52″ N), China. The treatments were no fertilizer (NF), urea (UR), balanced mineral fertilizers (BM), and BM combined with rice straw (BMR). The abundance, diversity, and composition of the soil-denitrifying bacteria were determined by using real-time quantitative PCR, terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP), and cloning and sequencing of nirK and nirS genes. There was a pronounced difference in the community composition and diversity of nirK-containing denitrifiers responding to the long-term fertilization regimes; however, less variation was observed in communities of nirS-containing denitrifiers, indicating that denitrifiers possessing nirK were more sensitive to the fertilization practices than those with nirS. In contrast, fertilization regimes had similar effects on the copy numbers of nirK and nirS genes. The BMR treatment had the highest copy numbers of nirK and nirS, followed by the two mineral fertilization regimes (UR and BM), and the lowest was in the NF treatment. Of the measured soil parameters, the differences in the community composition of nirK and the abundance of nir denitrifiers were highly correlated with the soil carbon content. Therefore, long-term fertilization resulted in a strong impact on the community structure of nirK populations only, and total organic carbon was the dominant factor in relation to the variations of nir community sizes.

Fumigation-extraction method for the measurement of soil microbial biomass-S

Abstract Fumigation-extraction was evaluated for the measurement of microbial biomass-S in soil. Following fumigation in CHCl3, S was extracted using 10 mM CaCl2 at a soil-to-extractant ratio of 1-to-2 (w/v). These conditions were shown to be favourable in a range of soils containing extractable-S below 30 μg S g−1 soil. Extractable-S was measured by ion chromatography following H2O2 digestion. The increase in extractable-S following fumigation (the flush) was converted to biomass-S using a conversion factor (ks) determined using 35S-labelled biomass-S. Using a soil-to-extractant ratio of 1-to-2 gave a value for Ks of 0.31. This methodology was shown to be reliable for soils subject to arable, grassland or woodland management, with pH values above 3.7 and clay contents of 4–60%. The amounts of biomass-S measured in these soils were in the range 2.9–20 μg S g−1 soil. The data also showed that the amounts of biomass-S in soil are related to biomass-C and dependant upon soil management and fertilisation.

Significant Role for Microbial Autotrophy in the Sequestration of Soil Carbon

ABSTRACT Soils were incubated for 80 days in a continuously labeled 14CO2 atmosphere to measure the amount of labeled C incorporated into the microbial biomass. Microbial assimilation of 14C differed between soils and accounted for 0.12% to 0.59% of soil organic carbon (SOC). Assuming a terrestrial area of 1.4 × 108 km2, this represents a potential global sequestration of 0.6 to 4.9 Pg C year−1. Estimated global C sequestration rates suggest a “missing sink” for carbon of between 2 and 3 Pg C year−1. To determine whether 14CO2 incorporation was mediated by autotrophic microorganisms, the diversity and abundance of CO2-fixing bacteria and algae were investigated using clone library sequencing, terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP), and quantitative PCR (qPCR) of the ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RubisCO) gene (cbbL). Phylogenetic analysis showed that the dominant cbbL-containing bacteria were Azospirillum lipoferum, Rhodopseudomonas palustris, Bradyrhizobium japonicum, Ralstonia eutropha, and cbbL-containing chromophytic algae of the genera Xanthophyta and Bacillariophyta. Multivariate analyses of T-RFLP profiles revealed significant differences in cbbL-containing microbial communities between soils. Differences in cbbL gene diversity were shown to be correlated with differences in SOC content. Bacterial and algal cbbL gene abundances were between 106 and 108 and 103 to 105 copies g−1 soil, respectively. Bacterial cbbL abundance was shown to be positively correlated with RubisCO activity (r = 0.853; P < 0.05), and both cbbL abundance and RubisCO activity were significantly related to the synthesis rates of [14C]SOC (r = 0.967 and 0.946, respectively; P < 0.01). These data offer new insights into the importance of microbial autotrophy in terrestrial C cycling.

Microbial growth and sulphur immobilization following the incorporation of plant residues into soil

Abstract The interaction between microbial growth and S immobilization was investigated in an arable soil amended with oil-seed rape (young leaves) and barley straw (1% w/w). Initially, the rape decomposed more rapidly (40 vs 10% by day 5) and produced a larger microbial biomass (990 μg C g −1 soil) than the straw (710 μgCg −1 soil). The biomass in both of the amended soils then decreased to amounts 30–50% higher than those in the unamended soil by day 35 and was maintained at these levels throughout the 195 day incubation. Most of the rape-S (>80%) and straw-S (>60%) added to the soil was released as SO 4 2− -S or converted to biomass-S in 5 days. By this time, the amount of S assimilated by the biomass in the rape-amended soil was three times that found using straw. Biomass-S in both soils then decreased but remained twice as high in the rape-amended soil over the period of 15–195 days. The biomass in the straw amended soil had a similar C:S (85–120:1) to that of the unamended soil but was narrower (40–50:1) in the rape-amended soil. By day 5, SO 4 -S in both of the amended soils had increased significantly. The increase in SO 4 2− -S in the rape-amended soil was maintained over the 195 day incubation, suggesting that this S was available for plant uptake. However, by day 15, a net immobilization of soil S by the biomass (25% of soil inorganic S) was found using straw. This immobilized S was retained by the biomass throughout the 195 day incubation and was, therefore, unavailable for plant growth. This suggests that the incorporation of plant residues such as straw which contain low amounts of S may decrease the plant availability of soil S.

Quantifying microbial biomass phosphorus in acid soils

Abstract This study aimed to validate the fumigation-extraction method for measuring microbial biomass P in acid soils. Extractions with the Olsen (0.5 M NaHCO3, pH 8.5) and Bray-1 (0.03 M NH4F–0.025 M HCl) extractants at two soil:solution ratios (1 : 20 and 1 : 4, w/v) were compared using eight acid soils (pH 3.6–5.9). The data indicated that the flushes (increases following CHCl3-fumigation) of total P (Pt) and inorganic P (Pi) determined by Olsen extraction provided little useful information for estimating the amount of microbial biomass P in the soils. Using the Bray-1 extractant at a soil:solution ratio of 1 : 4, and analysing Pi instead of Pt, improves the reproducibility (statistical significance and CV) of the P flush in these soils. In all the approaches studied, the Pi flush determined using the Bray-1 extractant at 1 : 4 provided the best estimate of soil microbial biomass P. Furthermore, the recovery of cultured bacterial and fungal biomass P added to the soils and extracted using the Bray-1 extractant at 1 : 4 was relatively constant (24.1–36.7% and 15.7–25.7%, respectively) with only one exception, and showed no relationship with soil pH, indicating that it behaved differently from added Pi (recovery decreased from 86% at pH 4.6 to 13% at pH 3.6). Thus, correcting for the incomplete recovery of biomass P using added Pi is inappropriate for acid soils. Although microbial biomass P in soil is generally estimated using the Pi flush and a conversion factor (kP) of 0.4, more reliable estimates require that kP values are best determined independently for each soil.

Effect of long-term fertilization on bacterial composition in rice paddy soil

We investigated the effect of long-term fertilization on bacterial abundance, composition, and diversity in paddy soil. The experiment started in 1990 in Taoyuan Agro-ecosystem Research Station in China (111°33′ E, 28°55′ N). The molecular approaches including real-time quantitative PCR, terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism, and clone library construction were employed using 16S rRNA gene as genetic marker. Application of inorganic fertilizers did not affect bacterial abundance, and rice straw incorporation combined with inorganic fertilizers significantly (P < 0.05) increased bacterial abundance with shifts in bacterial community composition. Among phylogenetic groups, γ-Proteobacteria was responsive to all fertilization regimes while Acidobacteria was relatively stable to fertilization practices. Inorganic fertilizer mainly affected γ-Proteobacteria and δ-Proteobacteria, while rice straw incorporation influenced β-Proteobacteria and Verrucomicrobia. Therefore, long-term fertilization can affect abundance and composition of bacterial communities in paddy soil.

GIS based land suitability assessment for tobacco production using AHP and fuzzy set in Shandong province of China

Fuzzy set, AHP, GIS were used to assess land suitability for tobacco production.Fuzzy set is ideal to transform numerical data into grades of membership.AHP is superior to determine the weights of multiple factors.29.8% of the total areas was highly suitable for crop, 17.7% was unsuitable.The finding facilities the land resource allocation and management for tobacco production. Flue-cured tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) production is important since there are still more than 300millions of smokers in China. It is essential to allocate tobacco to the most suitable land areas precisely for the best production since arable land area has been decreasing. Therefore, we herein assess land suitability for tobacco production in tobacco zone of Shandong province, China. The assessment used 20 factors as suitability parameters, including climatic condition, soil type and nutrient characters, and topography data. The fuzzy set model, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method, and GIS technique were integrated to create land suitability map. The results showed that 29.82% of the total area was highly suitable for tobacco production and 17.74% was unsuitable. Land in western part of the region had higher suitability, while the eastern region close to the Yellow Sea, had lower suitability. The most limiting factors included the number of continuous days with daily temperature ?20?C and high soil exchangeable Mg. This study demonstrates that Fuzzy set is an excellent mechanism to transform numerical data with various magnitudes into grades of membership functions, and representing land suitability. AHP is an effective and superior method to determine the weights of multiple factors in a systematic and logical way. The modeling results produced are based on individual land mapping unit, which facilities the land resource allocation and management. This result is significant in that it provides effective approaches to increase land use efficiency and better management for tobacco production.

Impact of agronomic practices on arsenic accumulation and speciation in rice grain.

Rice is a major source of dietary arsenic (As). The effects of paddy water management, straw incorporation, the applications of nitrogen fertilizer or organic manure, and the additions of biochar on arsenic accumulation and speciation in rice grain were investigated under field conditions over four cropping seasons in Hunan, China. Treatments that promoted anaerobic conditions in the soil, including continuous flooding and straw incorporation, significantly increased the concentration of As, especially methylated As species, in rice grain, whereas N application rate and biochar additions had little or inconsistent effect. Continuous flooding and straw incorporation also increased the abundance of the arsenite methyltransferase gene arsM in the soil, potentially enhancing As methylation in the soil and the uptake of methylated As by rice plants. Intermittent flooding was an effective method to decrease As accumulation in rice grain.

Influence of fertilisation regimes on a nosZ-containing denitrifying community in a rice paddy soil

BACKGROUND Denitrification is a microbial process that has received considerable attention during the past decade since it can result in losses of added nitrogen fertilisers from agricultural soils. Paddy soil has been known to have strong denitrifying activity, but the denitrifying microorganisms responsible for fertilisers in paddy soil are not well known. The objective of this study was to explore the impacts of 17-year application of inorganic and organic fertiliser (rice straw) on the abundance and composition of a nosZ-denitrifier community in paddy soil. Soil samples were collected from CK plots (no fertiliser), N (nitrogen fertiliser), NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilisers) and NPK + OM (NPK plus organic matter). The nitrous oxide reductase gene (nosZ) community composition was analysed using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism, and the abundance was determined by quantitative PCR. RESULTS Both the largest abundance of nosZ-denitrifier and the highest potential denitrifying activity (PDA) occurred in the NPK + OM treatment with about four times higher than that in the CK and two times higher than that in the N and NPK treatments (no significant difference). Denitrifying community composition differed significantly among fertilisation treatments except for the comparison between CK and N treatments. Of the measured abiotic factors, total organic carbon was significantly correlated with the observed differences in community composition and abundance (P < 0.01 by Monte Carlo permutation). CONCLUSION This study shows that the addition of different fertilisers affects the size and composition of the nosZ-denitrifier community in paddy soil.