Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The role of soil microorganisms in soil organic matter conservation in the tropics

  • Published:
Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Soil is a large sink for organic carbon within the terrestrial biosphere. Practices which cause a decline in soil organic matter cause CO2 release, in addition to damaging soil resilience and, often, agricultural productivity. The soil micro-organisms (collectively the soil microbial biomass) are the agents of transformation of soil organic matter, nutrients and of most key soil processes. Their activities are much influenced by soil physico-chemical and ecological interactions. This paper addresses two key issues. Firstly, ways of managing, and the extent to which it is possible to manage, soil biological functions. Secondly, the methodologies currently available for studying soil micro-organisms, and the functions they mediate, are discussed. It is concluded that, as the world population develops in this new millennium, there will be an increased dependence upon biological processes in soil to provide adequate crop nutrition for the majority of the world's farmers. Although a major increase in the use of artificial fertilisers will be necessary on a global scale, this will not be an option for large numbers of farmers due to their poverty. Instead they will rely on recycling of nutrients from animal and vegetable composts and urban wastes, and biological cycling from nitrogen fixation and mycorrhizae. The challenge is to select the most appropriate topics for further research. Not all aspects are likely to lead to significantly improved agricultural productivity, or sustainability within the foreseeable future.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alef K & Nannipieri P (eds) (1995) Methods in Applied Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry. Academic Press London

  • Amann RI, Ludwig L & Schleifer K-H (1995) Phylogenetic identification and in situ detection of individual microbial cells without cultivation. Microbiol Rev 59: 143–169

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson JM (1988) The role of soil fauna in agricultural systems. In:Wilson JR (ed) Advances in Nitrogen Cycling in Agricultural Ecosystems, pp 89–112. CAB International, Wallingford

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson JPE & Domsch KH (1978) A physiological method for the quantitative measurement of microbial biomass in soils. Soil Biol Biochem 10: 215–221

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Balba MT (1993) Microorganisms and detoxification of industrial waste. In: Jones DG (ed) Exploitation of Microorganisms. Chapman & Hall, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Barraclough D & Smith MJ (1987) The estimation of mineralization, immobilization and nitrification in nitrogen-15 field experiments using computer simulation. J Soil Sci 38: 519–530

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bashan Y & Holguin G (1997) Azospirillum-plant relationships: Environmental and physiological advances. Can J Microbiol 43: 103–121

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bloem J, Bolhuis PR, Veninga MR & Wieringa J (1995) Microscopic methods for counting bacteria and fungi in soil. In: Alef K & Nannipieri P (eds) Methods in Applied Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Borneman J, Skroch PW, O'sully KM, Palus JA, Rumjanek NG, Jansen JL, Nienhuis J & Triplett EW (1996) Molecular microbial diversity of an agricultural soil in Wisconsin. Appl Environ Microbiol 62: 1935–1943

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bouwman LA, Bloem J, Boogert van den PHJF, Bremer F, Hoenderboom GHJ & Ruiter de PC (1994) Short-term and long-term effects on bacteriavorous nematodes and nematophagus fungi on carbon and nitrogen mineralization in microcosms. Biol Fertil Soils 17: 249–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braux A-S, Minet J, Tamani-Shacoori Z, Riou G & Cornier M (1997) Direct enumeration of injured Escherichia coli cells harvested onto membrane filters. J Microb Methods 31: 1–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brock TD (ed) (1988) Thermophiles. John Wiley, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Brookes PC (1994) The use of microbial parameters in monitoring soil pollution by heavy metals. Biol Fertil Soils 19: 269–279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brookes PC & McGrath SP (1984) Effects of metal toxicity on the size of the soil microbial biomass. J Soil Sci 35: 341–346

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Burns, RG (ed) (1978) Soil Enzymes. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Cai Y, Ohmomo S, Ogawa M & Kumai S (1997) Effect of NaCltolerant lactic acid bacteria and NaCl on the fermentation characteristics and aerobic stability of silage. J Appl Microbiol 83: 307–313

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cassman KG, De Datta SK, Olk DC, Alcantara J, Samson M, Descalsota J & Dizon M (1995) Yield decline and the nitrogen economy of long-term experiments on continuous irrigated rice systems in the tropics. In: Lal R & Stewart BA (eds) Soil Management: Experimental Basis for Sustainability and Environmental Quality, pp 181–222. CRC/Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, FL, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Chander K, Brookes PC & Harding SA (1995) Microbial biomass dynamics following addition of metal-enriched sewage sludges to a sandy loam. Soil Biol Biochem 27: 1409–1421

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper R (1959) Bacterial fertilizers in the Soviet Union. Soils Fertil 22: 327–333

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson EA, Stark MJ & Firestone MK (1990) Microbial production and consumption of nitrate in an annual grassland. Ecology 71: 1968–1975

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davison J (1988) Plant beneficial bacteria. Bio-Technology 6: 282–286

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • de Freitas JR, Banerjee MR & Germida JJ (1997) Phosphatesolubilizing rhizobacteria enhance the growth and yield but not phosphorus uptake of canola (Brassica napus L.). Biol Fertil Soils 24: 358–364

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Degens BP & Harris JA (1997) Development of a physiological approach to measuring the catabolic diversity of soil microbial communities. Soil Biol Biochem 29: 1309–1320

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Drury CF, Voroney RP & Beauchamp EG (1991) Availability of NH+4–N to microorganisms and the soil internal N cycle. Soil Biol Biochem 23: 165–169

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Elliott PW, Knight D and Anderson JM (1990) Denitrification in earthworm casts and soil under different fertilizer and drainage regimes. Soil Biol Biochem 22: 601–605

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer G & Heilig GK (1998) Population momentum and the demand on land and water resources. In: Greenland DJ, Gregory PJ and Nye PH (eds) Land Resources: On the Edge of the Malthusian Precipice? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, pp 9–29. CAB International, Wallingford, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster RC (1988) Microenvironments of soil microorganisms. Biol Fertil Soils 6: 189–203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fritze H, Niini S, Mikkola K & Mäkinen A (1989) Soil microbial effects of a Cu-Ni smelter in south western Finland. Biol Fertil Soils 8: 87–94

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Frostegård Å, Tunlid A & Båårth E (1993) Phospholipid fatty acid composition, biomass, and activity of microbial communities from two soil types experimentally exposed to different heavy metals. Appl Environ Microbiol 59: 3605–3617

    Google Scholar 

  • Garland JL & Mills AL (1991) Classification and characterization of heterotrophic microbial communities on the basis of patterns of community-level sole carbon source utilization. Appl Environ Microbiol 57: 2351–2359

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gaunt JL, Neue HU, Cassman KG, Olk DC, Arah JRM, Witt C, Ottow JCG & Grant IFG (1995) Microbial biomass and organic matter turnover in wetland rice soils. Biol Fertil Soils 19: 333–342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goulding KTG, Hütsch BW, Webster CP, Willison TW & Powlson DS (1995) The effect of agriculture on methane oxidation in soil. Philos Trans R Soc Lond A 351: 313–325

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Greenland DJ (1997) Soil conditions and plant growth. Soil Use Manage 13: 169–177

    Google Scholar 

  • Grisi B, Grace C, Brookes PC, Benedetti A & Dell'Abate MT (1998) Temperature effects on organic matter and microbial biomass dynamics in temperate and tropical soils. Soil Biol Biochem 30: 1309–1315

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harley JL & Smith SE (1983) The Mycorrhizal Symbiosis. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Haron K, Brookes PC, Anderson JM & Zakaria ZZ (1998) Microbial biomass and soil organic matter dynamics in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) plantations, West Malaysia. Soil Biol Biochem 30: 547–552

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hassink J, Bouwman LA, Zwart KB & Brussard L (1993) Relationships between habitable pore space, soil biota and mineralization rates in grassland soils. Soil Biol Biochem 25: 47–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirsch PR (1996) Population dynamics of indigenous and genetically modified rhizobia in the field. New Phytol 133: 159–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inubushi K, Brookes PC & Jenkinson DS (1991) Soil microbial biomass C, N and ninhydrin-N in aerobic and anaerobic soils measured by the fumigation-extraction method. Soil Biol Biochem 23: 737–741

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jarvis SC, Stockdale EA, Shepherd MA & Powlson DS (1996) Nitrogen mineralisation in temperate agricultural soils: processes and measurement. Adv Agron 57: 187–235

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkinson DS (1966) Studies on the decomposition of plant material in soil. II. Partial sterilisation of soil and the soil biomass. J Soil Sci 17: 280–302

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkinson DS & Powlson DS (1976) The effects of biocidal treatments on metabolism in soil. V. A method for measuring soil biomass. Soil Biol Biochem 8: 167–177

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkinson DS (1984) The supply of nitrogen from the soil. In: The Nitrogen Requirement of Cereals, Reference Book No. 385, pp 79–93. ADAS, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones D Gareth (ed) (1993) Exploitation of Microorganisms. Chapman and Hall, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joos H, Lambert B, Leyns F, de Roek A & Swings J (1988) Inventory of natural rhizobacterial populations from different crop plants. In: Sussman M, Collins CH, Skinner FA, Stewart-Tull DE (eds) Release of Genetically-Engineered Microorganisms. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Killham K (1985) A physiological determination of the impact of environmental stress on the activity of microbial biomass. Environ Poll (Series A) 38: 204–283

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirkham D & Bartholomew WV (1954) Equations for following nutrient transformations in soil utilizing tracer data. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 18: 33–34

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kirkham D & Bartholomew WV (1955) Equations for following nutrient transformations in soil utilizing tracer data. II. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 19: 189–192

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kuikman PJ & van Veen JA (1989) The impact of protozoa on the availability of bacterial nitrogen to plants. Biol Fertil Soils 8: 13–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lal R (1998) Degradation and resilience of soils. In: Greenland DJ, Gregory PJ & Nye PH (eds) Land Resources: On the Edge of the Malthusian Precipice? Philos Trans R Soc Lond B, pp 137–150 CAB International, Wallingford, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin Q & Brookes PC (1996) Comparison of methods to measure microbial biomass in unamended, ryegrass-amended and fumigated soils. Soil Biol Biochem 28: 933–939

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Macdonald R McL (1986) Nitrification in soil: an introductory history. In: Prosser J (ed) Nitrification. IRL Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Marstorp H & Kirchmann H (1991) Carbon and qnitrogen mineralization and crop uptake of nitrogen from six green manure legumes decomposing in soil. Acta Agric Scand 41: 243–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mendum TA, Sockett RE & Hirsch PR (1999) Use of molecular and isotopic techniques to monitor the response of autotrophic ammonia-oxidizing populations of the β subdivision of the class Proteobacteria in arable soils to nitrogen fertilizer. Appl Environ Microbiol 84: 551–558

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy DV, Bhogal A, Shepherd MA, Goulding KWT, Jarvis SC, Barraclough D & Gaunt JL (1999) Comparison of 15N labelling methods to measure gross nitrogen mineralisation. Soil Biol Biochem 31: 2015–2024

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Myrold DD & Tiedje JM (1986) Simultaneous estimation of several nitrogen cycle rates using 15N: Theory and application. Soil Biol Biochem 18: 559–569

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholson PS & Hirsch PR (1998) The effects of pesticides on the diversity of culturable soil bacteria. J Appl Microbiol 84: 551–558

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ocio JA & Brookes PC (1990) An evaluation of methods for measuring the microbial biomass in soils following recent additions of wheat straw and the characterisation of the biomass that develops. Soil Biol Biochem 22: 685–694

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olk DC & Senesi N (2000) Properties of chemically extracted soil organic matter in intensively cropped lowland rice soils. In: Kirk GJD & Olk DC (eds) Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics in Flooded Soils, pp 65–87. International Rice Research Institute.

  • Palm C (1997) Nutrient management: Combined use of organic and inorganic fertilizers for increasing soil phosphorus availability. In: Swift MJ (ed) The Biology and Fertility of Tropical Soils, Report of the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Programme, pp 4–7. TSBF/UNESCO, Nairobi, Kenya

    Google Scholar 

  • Palm CA & Sanchez PA (1991) Nitrogen release from the leaves of some tropical legumes as affected by their lignin and polyphenolic contents. Soil Biol Biochem 23: 83–88

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Parker JH, Smith GA, Fredrickson HL, Vestal JR & White DC (1982) Sensitive assay, based on hydroxy fatty acids from lipopolysaccharide lipid A, for gram-negative bacteria in sediments. Appl Environ Microbiol 44: 1170–1177

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pieri C (1992) Fertility of Soils: A Future for Farming in the West African Savanna. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Powlson DS (1994) The soil microbial biomass: Before, beyond and back. In: Ritz K, Dighton J & Giller KE (eds) Beyond the Biomass, pp 3–20. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester

    Google Scholar 

  • Powlson DS (1997) Integrating agricultural nutrient management with environmental objectives - current state and future prospects. Proceedings No. 402, The Fertiliser Society, 42 pp

  • Powlson DS & Barraclough D (1993) Mineralization and assimilation in soil-plant systems. In: Knowles R & Blackburn TH (eds) Nitrogen Isotope Techniques, pp 209–242. Academic Press Inc., California

    Google Scholar 

  • Rahn CR, Vaidyanathan LV & Paterson CD (1992) Nitrogen residues from brassica crops. Aspects Appl Biol 30: 263–270

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubenchik LI (1960) Azotobacter and its use in Agriculture. Translated from the Russian, Israel Program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem

  • Ruz Jerez BE, Ball PR & Tillman RW (1988) Role of earthworms in N release from herbage residues. In: Jenkinson DS & Smith KA (eds) Nitrogen Efficiency in Agricultural Soils, pp 355–370. Elsevier, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Saffigna PG, Powlson DS, Brookes PC & Thomas GA (1989) Influence of sorghum residues and tillage on soil organic matter and soil microbial biomass in an Australian vertisol. Soil Biol Biochem 21: 759–765

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanchez PA, Buresh RJ & Leakey RRB (1998) Trees, soils, and food security. In: Greenland DJ, Gregory PJ & Nye PH (eds) Land Resources: On the Edge of the Malthusian Precipice? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, Vol. 352, pp 949–961. CAB International, Wallingford, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheu S (1987) Microbial activity and nutrient dynamics in earthworm casts (Lumbricidae). Biol Fertil Soils 5: 230–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith JU, Bradbury NJ & Addiscott TM (1996) SUNDIAL: a PCbased system for simulating nitrogen dynamics in arable land. Agron J 88: 38–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith P, Andrén O, Brussaard L, Dangerfield M, Ekschmitt K, Lavelle P & Tate K (1998) Soil biota and global change at the ecosystem level: describing soil biota in mathematical models. Global Change Biol 4: 773–784

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stotzky G (1997) Soils as an environment for microbial life. In: van Olsas JD, Trevors EM & Wellington H (eds) Modern Soil Microbiology, pp 1–20. Marcel Dekker Inc., New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Torsvik V, Goksoyr J & Daae FL (1990) High diversity in DNA of soil bacteria. Appl Environ Microbiol 56: 782–787

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tunlid A & White DC (1992) Biochemical analysis of biomass, community structure, nutritional status and metabolic activity of microbial communities in soil. In: Stotzky G & Bollag J-M (eds) Soil Biochemistry Vol. 7, pp 229–262. Marcel Dekker, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Underhill SE (1990) Techniques for studying the microbial ecology of nitrification. Methods Microbiol 22: 417–445

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vance ED, Brookes PC & Jenkinson DS (1987) An extraction method for measuring soil microbial biomass C. Soil Biol Biochem 19: 703–707

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wedin DA & Tilman D (1990) Species effects on nitrogen cycling: A test with perennial grasses. Oecologia 84: 433–441

    Google Scholar 

  • Willison TW, Baker JC, Murphy DV & Goulding KWT (1998) Comparison of a wet and dry 15N isotopic dilution technique as a short-term nitrification assay. Soil Biol Biochem 30: 61–663

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woese CR (1987) Bacterial evolution. Microbiol Rev 51: 221–271

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Woods LE, Cole CV, Elliott ET, Anderson RV & Coleman DC (1982) Nitrogen transformations in soil as affected by bacterialmicrofaunal interactions. Soil Biol Biochem 14: 93–98

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wu J, O'Donnell AG, Syers JK, Adey MA & Vityakon P (1998) Modelling soil organic matter changes in ley-arable rotations in sandy soils of Northeast Thailand. European J Soil Sci 49: 463–470

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Soil Science Department, IACR-Rothamsted, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 2JQ, UK

    David S. Powlson

  2. Soil Science Department, IACR-Rothamsted, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 2JQ, UK

    Penny R. Hirsch & Philip C. Brookes

Authors
  1. David S. Powlson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Penny R. Hirsch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Philip C. Brookes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David S. Powlson.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Powlson, D.S., Hirsch, P.R. & Brookes, P.C. The role of soil microorganisms in soil organic matter conservation in the tropics. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 61, 41–51 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013338028454

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013338028454

Search

Navigation