Determination of the Number of Ammonification Bacteria and Activity of the Ammonification Process in Soils and their Relevance for the Development of the of Soil Health Parameter

Abstract

The results of daily counting of the colony forming units (CFU) number of bacteria capable of the ammonification (AMM) and activity of the AMM process using ammonium concentrations after induction of the AMM by peptone in soil samples from fallow and intensively cropped plots of gray forest soil are presented. Statistical analysis of visually observed wave-like dynamics of CFU revealed statistically significant harmonics in CFU of these soils. The harmonics of the dynamic of CFU of different soils were fairly close by their quantitative characteristics. This indicates not only the dynamic similarity, but also a comparable orderliness in the functioning of the ammonifying component in the differently used soils. The daily dynamics of the ammonium concentration in the soil samples was manifested in the form of curve accumulation of NH 4 + in time. The presentation of the results of the dynamics of NH 4 + in the form of subtraction differences between the subsequent concentration of NH 4 + and the previous one showed that the dynamics of daily production of NH 4 + just like the dynamics of CFU, has an oscillating nature. The observed differences in the dynamics of NH 4 + in the compared soil ecosystems (SE) -the fallow and intensively cropped plots are very minor. Thus, even detailed monitoring the dynamic of AMM in SE do not allow to reveal significant differences in AMM of genetically identical but differently used soils. Therefore, the process of ammonification cannot be used to identify differences in the "nitrogen" parameters of the soil health.