Impact of land use on soils microbial activity

Abstract

The article considered the influence the various types of land use on microbial activity of soils and thus using this parameter as a universal test of soil quality. Samples for soil respiration studies were taken from agricultural areas, meadows, forests and urban areas (estate cottages). All samples were subjected to the same analytical procedure and the method of measurement was followed by a Substrate-Induced Respiration (SIR) method. Since all the samples were from neighbouring regions and were characterized by similar soil parameters, the obtained results allowed to assess the quality of the soil environment of the surveyed area and to evaluate the total rating of whole area. The obtained results allowed to observe slight divergences between soil samples taken from areas of different use. And although statistically, in this case, these differences were not significant, the characteristics of the respiration curves clearly indicate that there is a dependency between the form of use and the size and rate of soil respiration. In addition, the results have shown that single family housing does not exhibit as much anthropopression to the soil environment as it might seem.

Keywords

• environmental engineering
• land use
• soil respiration
• Substrate-Induced Respiration (SIR)