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Soil Microbiology and Sustainable Crop Production pp 81–118Cite as

The Role of Microbial Communities in the Formation and Decomposition of Soil Organic Matter

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Abstract

Organic matter is mainly present in the top 20–30 cm of most soil profiles and is essentially an array of organic macromolecules consisting principally of combinations of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulphur. Soil organic matter is commonly measured as the quantity of organic carbon. The global pool of organic carbon in soil to a depth of 1 m has been estimated at 1,200–1,550 Pg (2 m: 2,370–2,450 Pg), and as such is significantly greater than either the biological-biota (560 Pg) or atmospheric (760 Pg) carbon pools (Baldock 2007). Almost all organic matter in soil is directly and indirectly derived from plants via photosynthesis. Thus atmospheric carbon dioxide is transformed by reduction into simple and complex organic carbon compounds, which in combination with key nutrients enable the plant to function and grow. Carbon dioxide is released directly from plants by respiration, but most of the fixed carbon is retained and ultimately transferred to the soil ecosystem via a combination of spatially distinct pathways over a variety of timescales. The most important pathways are the direct addition of senes­-cent material as above-ground and below-ground detritus, return of ingested plant matter in animal faeces, and exudation of soluble organic ­compounds from roots (Howarth 2007).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Resistance, the degree to which microbial composition remains unchanged following disturbance.

  2. 2.

    Resilience, the rate at which microbial composition returns to its original composition after the disturbance.

  3. 3.

    Functional redundancy, the ability of one microbial group to carry out a process at the same rate as another under the same environmental conditions (according to Allison and Martiny 2008).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Agriculture and Life Sciences, Lincoln University, 84, Lincoln, 7647, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Leo Condron

  2. Environmental and Geographical Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK

    Christine Stark

  3. AgResearch, 4749, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand

    Maureen O’Callaghan

  4. Scion, 29-237, Fendalton, Christchurch, 8041, New Zealand

    Peter Clinton & Zhiqun Huang

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    Geoffrey R. Dixon

  2. Scottish Universities Environmental Rese, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride, G75 0QF, United Kingdom

    Emma L. Tilston

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Condron, L., Stark, C., O’Callaghan, M., Clinton, P., Huang, Z. (2010). The Role of Microbial Communities in the Formation and Decomposition of Soil Organic Matter. In: Dixon, G., Tilston, E. (eds) Soil Microbiology and Sustainable Crop Production. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9479-7_4

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