Methods of determining microbial biomass in soil - A review
2004
Azam, F. | Farooq, S. | Lodhi, A. (Nuclear Inst. for Agriculture and Biology, Faisalabad (Pakistan))
Microbial biomass is a small but labile and living component of soil organic matter involved in most biogeochemical processes in terrestrial ecosystems. It interacts with ecosystem productivity by regulating nutrient availability, determining soil C storage, and contributing to the atmospheric CO2 from respiration. In view of the significance of microbial biomass in ecosystem functioning, immense efforts have been made to devise and simplify the methods of determination. Interest in the development of new methods and improvement in the available ones got impetus following the introduction of chloroform fumigation incubation method in 1976. Since then a multiplicity of methods have been proposed and practiced. This paper presents a critical review of the most commonly used methods of determining microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen.
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