Impact of Phalaris arundinacea cultivation on microbial community of a cutover peatland

Organic peat soils have been extensively drained and used for agricultural, horticultural and energy purposes. The management practices of organic soils accelerate decomposition processes resulting generally in loss of carbon. Microbes are the key players in soil carbon cycling. We studied the effec...

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Published inBoreal environment research Vol. 15; no. 4; pp. 437 - 445
Main Authors TAVI, Niina M, KEINÄNEN-TOIVOLA, Minna M, KOPONEN, Hannu T, HUTTUNEN, Jari T, KEKKI, Tomi K, BIASI, Christina, MARTIKAINEN, Pertti J
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Helsinski Finnish Environment Institute 2010
Subjects
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
Marine and continental quaternary
Surficial geology
Synecology
fatty acids
bacteria
Litter
Plantae
Phospholipid
decomposition
respiration
carbon cycle
roots
storage
Microbial biomass
agriculture
prokaryotes
fungi
management
microorganisms
carbon
peat bogs
soils
peat
Microbial community
Thallophyta
Ecological abundance
energy
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Summary:Organic peat soils have been extensively drained and used for agricultural, horticultural and energy purposes. The management practices of organic soils accelerate decomposition processes resulting generally in loss of carbon. Microbes are the key players in soil carbon cycling. We studied the effects of cultivation of a perennial bioenergy plant (reed canary grass, Phalaris arundinacea) on microbial biomass carbon, microbial respiration and microbial communities in an old, previously uncultivated peat soil. The cultivation increased the amount of microbial biomass carbon and microbial respiration in peat mostly in the uppermost 5 cm layer where the impacts of roots and litter are most pronounced. As shown by phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis, the abundance of fungi and gram-negative bacteria increased with cultivation, while the abundance of gram-positive bacteria decreased. The implications of these changes on carbon cycling and carbon storage in peat under reed canary grass are discussed.
ISSN:1239-6095
1797-2469