Abstract
Soils are frequently exposed to drying and wetting events and previous studies have shown that rewetting results in a strong but short-lived flush of microbial activity. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the water content during the dry period on the size and duration of the flush and on the rate of recovery. Two soils (a sand and a sandy loam) were maintained at different water contents (WC) 30, 28 and 25 g water kg−1 soil (sand) and 130, 105 and 95 g water kg−1 soil (sandy loam) for 14 days, then rewet to the water content at which respiration was optimal [WC 35 (sand), WC200 (sandy loam)] and maintained at this level until day 68. Ground pea straw (C/N 26) was added and incorporated on day 1. The controls were maintained at the optimal water content throughout the 68 days. Respiration rates during the dry phase (days 1–14) decreased with decreasing water content. The flush of respiration after rewetting peaked on day 15 in the sandy loam and on day 16 in the sand; it was greatest in the soils that had been maintained at the lowest water content [WC25 (sand) and WC95 (sandy loam)]. Cumulative respiration during the remainder of the incubation period in which all soils were maintained at optimal water content increased more strongly in the soils that had been dry compared to the constantly moist control. On the final day of the dry period (day 14), cumulative respiration in the dry soils was 29–65% (sand) and 67–94% (sandy loam) of the constantly moist control whereas on day 68 it was 80–84% (sand) and 86–96% (sandy loam). The greater increase in cumulative respiration in the previously dry soils can be explained by the reduced decomposition rates during the dry period which resulted in higher substrate availability on day 14 compared to the constantly moist control. Microbial community structure assessed by phospholipid fatty acid analyses changed over time in all treatments but was less affected by water content than respiration; it differed only between the highest and the lowest water content. These differences were maintained throughout the incubation period in the sandy loam and transiently in the sand. It can be concluded that the soil water content during the dry phase affects the size of the flush in microbial activity upon rewetting and that microbial activity in previously dried soils may not be fully restored even after 54 days of moist incubation, suggesting that drying of soil can have a significant and long-lasting impact on microbial functioning.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bottner P (1985) Response of microbial biomass to alternate moist and dry conditions in a soil incubated with C-14-labeled and N-15-labelled plant material. Soil Biol Biochem 17:329–337
Butterly CR, Bunemann EK, McNeill AM, Baldock JA, Marschner P (2009) Carbon pulses but not phosphorus pulses are related to decreases in microbial biomass during repeated drying and rewetting of soils. Soil Biol Biochem 41:1406–1416
Chowdhury N, Marschner P, Burns R G (2011) Response of microbial activity and community structure to decreasing soil osmotic and matric potential. Plant Soil. in press.
Clarke KR, Warwick RM (2001) Change in marine communities: an approach to statistical analysis and interpretation. Primer-E, Plymouth
Cortez J (1989) Effect of drying and rewetting on mineralization and distribution of bacterial constituents in soil fractions. Biol Fertil Soils 7:142–151
De Nobili M, Contin M, Brookes PC (2006) Microbial biomass dynamics in recently air-dried and rewetted soils compared to others stored air-dry for up to 103 years. Soil Biol Biochem 38:2871–2881
Denef K, Six J, Bossuyt H, Frey SD, Elliott ET, Merckx R, Paustian K (2001) Influence of dry-wet cycles on the interrelationship between aggregate, particulate organic matter, and microbial community dynamics. Soil Biol Biochem 33:1599–1611
Diaz-Ravina M, Prieto A, Bååth E (1996) Bacterial activity in a forest soil after soil heating and organic amendments measured by the thymidine and leucine incorporation techniques. Soil Biol Biochem 28:419–426
Fierer N, Schimel JP (2003) A proposed mechanism for the pulse in carbon dioxide production commonly abserved following the rapid rewetting of a dry soil. Soil Sci Soc Am J 67:798–805
Franzluebbers K, Weaver RW, Juo ASR, Franzluebbers AJ (1994) Carbon and nitrogen mineralization from cowpea plant parts decomposing in moist and in repeatedly dried and wetted soil. Soil Biol Biochem 26:1379–1387
Frostegård A, Bååth E, Tunlid A (1993) Shifts in the strucutre of soil microbial communities in limed forests as revealed by phospholipid fatty acid analysis. Soil Biol Biochem 25:723–730
Gordon H, Haygarth PM, Bardgett RD (2008) Drying and rewetting effects on soil microbial community composition and nutrient leaching. Soil Biol Biochem 40:302–311
Griffiths RI, Whiteley AS, O’Donnell AG, Bailey MJ (2003) Physiological and community responses of established grassland bacterial populations to water stress. Appl Environ Microbiol 69:6961–6968
Halverson LJ, Jones TM, Firestone MK (2000) Release of intracellular solutes by four soil bacteria exposed to dilution stress. Soil Sci Soc Am J 64:1630–1637
Hamer U, Unger M, Makeschin F (2007) Impact of air-drying and rewetting on PLFA profiles of soil microbial communities. J Plant Nutrit Soil Sci 170:259–264
Harris R F (1980) Effect of water potential on microbial growth and activity. In Water potential relations in soil microbiology. pp 23–95. Soil Science Society America, Madison.
Ilstedt U, Nordgren A, Malmer A (2000) Optimum soil water for soil respiration before and after amendment with glucose in humid tropical acrisols and a boreal mor layer. Soil Biol Biochem 32:1594–1599
Kandeler E (2007) Physiological and biochemical methods for studying soil biota and their function. In Soil Microbiology, ecology, and biochemistry. Ed. E A Paul. pp 53–84. Elsevier
Kieft TL, Soroker E, Firestone MK (1987) Microbial biomass response to a rapid increase in water potential when dry soil is wetted. Soil Biol Biochem 19:119–126
Klute A (1986) Water retention: laboratory methods. In: Klute A (ed) Methods of soil analysis, Part 1. Soil Science Society of America, Madison, pp 635–660
McNamara NP, Griffiths RI, Tabouret A, Beresford NA, Bailey MJ, Whiteley AS (2007) The sensitivity of a forest soil microbial community to acute gamma-irradiation. Appl Soil Ecol 37:1–9
Mikha MM, Rice CW, Milliken GA (2005) Carbon and nitrogen mineralization as affected by drying and wetting cycles. Soil Biol Biochem 37:339–347
Oren A (1999) Bioenergetic aspects of halophilism. Microbiol Molec Biol Rev 63:334–348
Oren A (2001) The bioenergetic basis for the decrease in metabolic diversity at increasing salt concentrations: implication of the functioning of salt lake ecosystems. Hydrobiologia 466:61–72
Orwin KH, Wardle DA, Greenfield LG (2006) Context-dependent changes in the resistance and resilience of soil microbes to an experimental disturbrance for three primary plant chronosequences. Oikos 112:196–208
Pesaro M, Nicollier G, Zeyer J, Widmer F (2004) Impact of soil drying-rewetting stress microbial communities and activities and on degradation of two crop protection products. Appl Environ Microbiol 70:2577–2587
Richard LA (1954) Determination of the properties of saline and alkali soils. United States Department of Agriculture Handbook 60. Washington, DC, pp 7–53
Schimel JP, Balser TC, Wallenstein M (2007) Microbial stress response physiology and its implications for ecosystem function. Ecology 88:1386–1394
Schmitt A, Glaser B (2011) Organic matter dynamics in a temperate forest soil following enhanced drying. Soil Biol Biochem 43:478–489
Sparling GP, Whale KN, Ramsay AJ (1985) Quantifying the contribution from the soil microbial biomass to the extractable P levels of fresh and air-dried soils. Aust J Soil Res 23:613–621
Stark JM, Firestone MK (1995) Mechanisms for soil moisture effects on the activity of nitrifying bacteria. Appl Environ Microbiol 61:218–221
Van Gestel M, Merckx R, Vlassak K (1993) Microbial biomass responses to soil drying and rewetting: the fate of fast- and slow-growing microorganisms in soils from different climates. Soil Biol Biochem 25:109–123
Wada S, Toyota K (2007) Repeated applications of farmyard manure enhance resistance and resilience of soil biological functions against soil disinfection. Biol Fertil Soils 43:349–356
White DC (1995) Chemical ecology: possible linkage between macro- and microbial ecology. Oikos 74:177–184
Wilkinson SC, Anderson JM, Scardelis SP, Tisiafouli M, Taylor A, Wolters V (2002) PLFA profiles of microbial communities in decomposing conifer litter subject to moisture stress. Soil Biol Biochem 34:189–200
Williams MA (2007) Resonse of microbial communities to water stress in irrigated and drought-prone tallgrass prairie soils. Soil Biol Biochem 39:2750–2757
Zak DR, Pregnitzer KS, Curtis PS, Holmes WE (2000) Atmosperic CO2 and the composition and function of soil microbial communities. Ecol Appl 10:47–59
Zelles L, Rackwitz R, Bai QY, Beck T, Beese F (1995) Discrimination of microbial diversity by fatty acid profiles of phospholipids and lipopolysaccharides in differently cultivated soils. Plant Soil 170:115–122
Acknowledgments
This study was funded by the Australian Research Council. Nasrin Chowdhury received an Endeavour Australia postgraduate scholarship. Petra Marschner thanks Alan Robson for introducing her to mycorrhiza all these years ago, she has been fascinated by soil biology ever since.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Hans Lambers.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chowdhury, N., Burns, R.G. & Marschner, P. Recovery of soil respiration after drying. Plant Soil 348, 269–279 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-0871-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-0871-2