Evaluation of enzyme activities in combination with taxonomic analyses may help define the mechanisms involved in microbial decomposition of organic amendments and biological control of soilborne pathogens. In this study, powdered pine bark was added to nematode-infested soil at rates of 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50 g kg-1. Total fungal populations did not differ among treatments immediately after application of pine bark. After 7 days, fungal populations were positively correlated with increasing levels of pine bark. This increase was sustained through 14 and 21 days. PenicilIium chrysogenum and Paecilomvces variotii were the predominant fungal species isolated from soil amended with pine bark. Total bacterial populations did not change with addition of pine bark at 0, 7, and 14 days after treatment. At 21 and 63 days, total bacterial populations declined in soil receiving the highest rates of pine bark. Addition of pine bark powder to soil caused a shift in predominant bacterial genera from Bacillus spp. in nonamended soil, to Pseudomonas spp. in amended soil. Soil enzyme activities were positively correlated with pine bark rate at all sampling times. Trehalase activity was positively correlated with total fungal populations and with predominant fungal species, but was not related to bacterial populations. The number of non-parasitic (non-stylet bearing) nematodes and Meloidogyne arenaria in soil and roots were not correlated with pine bark rate. However, Heterodera glycines juveniles in roots, and the number of cysts g-1 root, declined with increasing levels of pine bark.
Section editor: H Lambers