Summary
Mild oven heating stimulated the respiratory activity of soils, following remoistening, more than drying alone. Tests with moist heating at the same temperatures indicated that the heat, rather than the drying, was responsible for a burst of activity peaking at 4 to 6 hours. It is probable that bacterial spore-formers were caused to germinate by mild heating. Soil samples receiving various treatments were heated to determine their response, and inferentially, the status of the bacterial spore-formers. Correlations were also made between populations during the early hours following various treatments and the respiratory activity. An attempt was made to determine, as best possible, how quickly the respiratory activity in dried-remoistened soil appeared.
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Funke, B.R., Harris, J.O. Early respiratory responses of soil treated by heat or drying. Plant Soil 28, 38–48 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01349176
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01349176