Fungal and bacterial growth responses to N fertilization and pH in the 150-year 'Park Grass' UK grassland experiment

A - Papers appearing in refereed journals

Rousk, J., Brookes, P. C. and Baath, E. 2011. Fungal and bacterial growth responses to N fertilization and pH in the 150-year 'Park Grass' UK grassland experiment. FEMS Microbiology Ecology. 76 (1), pp. 89-99. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2010.01032.x

AuthorsRousk, J., Brookes, P. C. and Baath, E.
Abstract

The effects of nitrogen (N) fertilization (0-150 kg N ha-1 year-1 since 1865) and pH (3.3-7.4) on fungal and bacterial growth, biomass and phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) composition were investigated in grassland soils from the 'Park Grass Experiment', Rothamsted Research, UK. Bacterial growth decreased and fungal growth increased with lower pH, resulting in a 50-fold increase in the relative importance of fungi between pH 7.4 and 3.3. The PLFA-based fungal : bacterial biomass ratio was unchanged between pH 4.5 and 7.4, and decreased only below pH 4.5. Respiration and substrate-induced respiration biomass both decreased three- to fourfold with lower pH, but biomass concentrations estimated using PLFAs were unaffected by pH. N fertilization did not affect bacterial growth and marginally affected fungal growth while PLFA biomass marker concentrations were all reduced by higher N additions. Respiration decreased with higher N application, suggesting a reduced quality of the soil organic carbon. The PLFA composition was strongly affected by both pH and N. A comparison with a pH gradient in arable soil allowed us to generalize the pH effect between systems. There are 30-50-fold increases in the relative importance of fungi between high (7.4-8.3) and low (3.3-4.5) pH with concomitant reductions of respiration by 30-70%.

KeywordsMicrobiology
Year of Publication2011
JournalFEMS Microbiology Ecology
Journal citation76 (1), pp. 89-99
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2010.01032.x
PubMed ID21223326
Open accessPublished as non-open access
FunderSwedish Research Council (VR)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Funder project or codeSEF
Carbon, nutrient and energy flows through the soil microbial biomass and soil ecosystem functioning
PublisherWiley
Oxford University Press (OUP)
ISSN0168-6496

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