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Soil microbial communities play an important role in the biodegradation of different petroleum derivates, including hydrocarbons. Also other biological factors such as enzyme and respiration activities and microbial abundance are sensitive to contamination with petroleum derivates. The aim of this study was to evaluate the response of autochthonic microbial community and biological parameters (respiration, dehydrogenase and catalase activities, total microorganisms count) on contamination with car fuels and engine oils. The surface layer (0–20 cm) of Mollic Gleysol was used for the experiment. In laboratory conditions, soil was contaminated with the following petroleum substances: car fuels (petrol, diesel) and car engine oils (new and waste—after 10,000 km). The results demonstrated that, among the investigated hydrocarbon substances, petrol addition seemed to be the most toxic for the microbial activity of the investigated soil. The toxicity of the used hydrocarbon substances to microorganisms might be summarized as follows: diesel > new oil > waste oil > petrol. Species belonging to the genera Micrococcus and Rhodococcus were noted as the major autochthonic bacteria being present in soil contaminated with new automobile oil, whereas species of the genera Bacillus sp. and Paenibacillus sp. were identified in the combination treated with waste oil.

The main goal of the study was to find differences in the bacterial community structure resulting from different ways of meadow management in order to get the first insight into microbial biodiversity in meadow samples. The next generation sequencing technique (454-pyrosequencing) was accompanied with the community level physiological profiling (CLPP) method in order to acquire combined knowledge of both genetic and catabolic bacterial fingerprinting of two studied meadows (hayland and pasture). Soil samples (FAO: Mollic Gleysol) were taken in April 2015 from the surface layer (0–20 cm). Significant differences of the bacterial community structure between the two analyzed meadows resulted from different land mode were evidenced by pyrosequencing and CLPP techniques. It was found that Alpha- and Gammaproteobacteria dominated in the hayland, whereas Delta- and Betaproteobacteria prevailed in the pasture. Additionally, the hayland displayed lower Firmicutes diversity than the pasture. Predominant bacterial taxa: Acidobacteria, together with Chloroflexi and Bacteroidetes seemed to be insensitive to the mode of land use, because their abundance remained at a similar level in the both studied meadows. The CLPP analysis confirmed much faster degradation of the carbon sources by microorganisms from the hayland rather than from the pasture. Amino acids were the most favoured carbon source groups utilized by microorganisms in contrast to carbohydrates, which were utilized to the lowest extent. The study clearly proved that the consequences of even moderate anthropogenic management are always changes in bacterial community structure and their metabolic activity. Bacterial taxa that are sensitive and resistant on modes of land use were determined.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11274-017-2318-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A b s t r a c t. Soil respiration is a very important factor influencing carbon deposition in peat and reflecting the intensity of soil organic matter decomposition, root respiration, and the ease of transporting gases to the surface. Carbon dioxide release from three different peat soil profiles (0-80 cm) of the Polesie Lubelskie Region (Eastern Poland) was analyzed under laboratory conditions. Peat samples were incubated at 5, 10, and 20°C in aerobic and anaerobic environments, and their CO 2 -evolution was analyzed up to 14 days. The respiration activity was found to be in the range of 0.013-0.497 g CO 2 kg -1 DW d -1 . The respiratory quotient was estimated to be in the range of 0.51-1.51, and the difference in respiration rates over 10°C ranged between 4.15 and 8.72 in aerobic and from 1.15 to 6.53 in anaerobic conditions. A strong influence of temperature, depth, the degree of peat decomposition, pH, and nitrate content on respiration activity was found. Lack of oxygen at low temperature caused higher respiration activity than under aerobic conditions. These results should be taken into account when the management of Polish peatlands is considered in the context of climate and carbon storage, and physicochemical properties of soil in relation to soil respiration activity are considered.K e y w o r d s: peat ecosystem, aerobic and anaerobic respiration, carbon dioxide