Miniaturized Method to Measure Carbon Dioxide Production and Biomass of Soil Microorganisms

Abstract

Microbial activities and biomasses in soils exhibit steep gradients across short distances, forming microhabitats with different qualities. A methodological study was carried out to determine CO 2 production of soil microorganisms in miniature. Soil samples (2-4 g) from 28 different soil types of southern Germany were incubated directly in a small glass ampoule within a 20-mL gas-tight syringe. A high correlation (r = 0.96) between CO 2 production and heat output suggests that this micromethod is useful for the determination of CO 2 respiration and the estimation of microbial biomass of small soil samples.

Harvesting and slash piling affects soil respiration, soil temperature, and soil moisture regimes in Newfoundland boreal forests

“…The effect of plot and measurement location (collar) accounted for 32Á53% of the variability in soil respiration (Table 2). Soil processes, particularly microbially mediated ones, exhibit high spatial variability with significant differences encountered at the centimeter scale (e.g., Heilmann and Beese 1992;Parkin 1993;Morris 1999). Soil temperature at the time of sampling (10 cm depth) explained most of the variability, outside of plot and collar, in surface CO 2 efflux (an additional 23Á49%).…”

Redistributed lacustrine detritus as a spatial subsidy of biological resources for soils in an Antarctic dry valley

“…Decomposition rates of the detritus sediments were determined by incubating triplicate 5 g (dry wt. equivalent) sub-samples of the sediments in miniaturized respiration chambers (Heilmann and Beese, 1992) for 48 days at 10°C, following adjustment with distilled water if necessary to a gravimetric water content of at least 0.2 g H 2 O g − 1 dry wt. and determining CO 2 production by gas chromatography (Hopkins and Ferguson, 1994).…”

Organic matter composition and potential trace gas production of permafrost soils in the forest tundra in northern Siberia

“…After preincubation, half of the samples were completely water saturated. Preconditioned soil samples (dry weight of 3 g) were incubated in small glass cups placed in 20-ml gas-tight syringes in a manner similar to the method described by Heilmann and Beese (1992). The syringes with the soil samples were flushed with fresh air at the start of incubation, adjusted to a volume of 20 ml and sealed gas-tight by pushing the needle into a rubber stopper.…”