The effect of microbial activity on soil water diffusivity

A - Papers appearing in refereed journals

Choudhury, B. U., Ferraris, S., Ashton, R. W., Powlson, D. S. and Whalley, W. R. 2018. The effect of microbial activity on soil water diffusivity. European Journal of Soil Science. 69 (3), pp. 407-413. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejss.12535

AuthorsChoudhury, B. U., Ferraris, S., Ashton, R. W., Powlson, D. S. and Whalley, W. R.
Abstract

In this study, we explored the effects of microbial activity on the evaporation of water from cores of a sandy soil under laboratory conditions. We applied treatments to stimulate microbial activity by adding different amounts of synthetic analogue root exudates. For comparison, we used soil samples without synthetic root exudates as control and samples treated with mercuric chloride to suppress microbial activity. Our results suggest that increasing microbial activity reduces the rate of evaporation from soil. Estimated diffusivities in soil with the largest amounts of added root exudates were one third of those estimated in samples where microbial activity was suppressed by adding mercuric chloride. We discuss the effect of our results with respect to water uptake by roots.

Year of Publication2018
JournalEuropean Journal of Soil Science
Journal citation69 (3), pp. 407-413
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1111/ejss.12535
Open accessPublished as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
FunderBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Funder project or codeDesigning Future Wheat (DFW) [ISPG]
DFW - Designing Future Wheat - Work package 1 (WP1) - Increased efficiency and sustainability
Accepted author manuscript
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online30 Jan 2018
Publication process dates
Accepted22 Nov 2017
PublisherWiley-Blackwell
Wiley
Copyright licenseCC BY
ISSN1351-0754

Permalink - https://repository.rothamsted.ac.uk/item/846wv/the-effect-of-microbial-activity-on-soil-water-diffusivity

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