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Trophic interactions in soils as they affect energy and nutrient dynamics. IV. Flows of metabolic and biomass carbon

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Abstract

Flows of biomass and respiratory carbon were studied in a series of propylene-oxide sterilized soil microcosms. One-half of the microcosms received three pulsed additions of 200 ppm glucose-carbon to mimic rhizosphere carbon inputs. Biotic variables were: bacteria (Pseudomonas) alone, or amoebae (Acanthamoeba) and nematodes (Mesodiplogaster) singly, or both combined in the presence of bacteria.

Over the 24-day experiment, respiration was significantly higher in the microcosms containing the bacterial grazers. Biomass accumulation by amoebae was significantly higher than that by nematodes. The nematodes respired up to 30-fold more CO2 per unit biomass than did amoebae. Similar amounts of carbon flowed into both respiratory and biomass carbon in microcosms with fauna, compared with the bacteria-alone microcosms. However, partitioning of available carbon by the microfauna varied considerably, with little biomass production and relatively more CO2-C produced in the nematode-containing microcosms. The amoebae, in contrast, allocated more carbon to tissue production (about 40% assimilation efficiency) and correspondingly less to CO2.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory and Department of Zoology and Entomology, Colorado State University, 80523, Fort Collins, Colorado

    D. C. Coleman & R. V. Anderson

  2. Phosphorus Laboratory, USDA, Science and Education Administration, 80521, Fort Collins, Colorado

    C. V. Cole

  3. Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, 80523, Fort Collins, Colorado

    E. T. Elliott & M. K. Campion

  4. Department of Agronomy, Colorado State University, 80523, Fort Collins, Colorado

    L. Woods

Authors
  1. D. C. Coleman
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  2. R. V. Anderson
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  3. C. V. Cole
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  4. E. T. Elliott
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  5. L. Woods
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  6. M. K. Campion
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Coleman, D.C., Anderson, R.V., Cole, C.V. et al. Trophic interactions in soils as they affect energy and nutrient dynamics. IV. Flows of metabolic and biomass carbon. Microb Ecol 4, 373–380 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02013280

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