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Microbial responses to carbon and nitrogen supplementation in an Antarctic dry valley soil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2012

P.G. Dennis ,
A.D. Sparrow ,
E.G. Gregorich ,
P.M. Novis ,
B. Elberling ,
L.G. Greenfield  and
D.W. Hopkins
P.G. Dennis
Affiliation:
School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland UK Scottish Crop Research Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee, DD2 5DA, Scotland UK
A.D. Sparrow
Affiliation:
CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, PO Box 2111, Alice Springs NT 0871, Australia
E.G. Gregorich
Affiliation:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, K1A 0C6, Canada
P.M. Novis
Affiliation:
Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research, PO Box 40, Lincoln 7640, New Zealand
B. Elberling
Affiliation:
Institute of Geography and Geology, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350, Copenhagen K., Denmark The University Centre in Svalbard, Longyearbyen, Norway
L.G. Greenfield
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8020, New Zealand
D.W. Hopkins*
Affiliation:
School of Life Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS, Scotland UK
*
*corresponding author: david.hopkins@hw.ac.uk
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Abstract

The soils of the McMurdo Dry Valleys are exposed to extremely dry and cold conditions. Nevertheless, they contain active biological communities that contribute to the biogeochemical processes. We have used ester-linked fatty acid (ELFA) analysis to investigate the effects of additions of carbon and nitrogen in glucose and ammonium chloride, respectively, on the soil microbial community in a field experiment lasting three years in the Garwood Valley. In the control treatment, the total ELFA concentration was small by comparison with temperate soils, but very large when expressed relative to the soil organic carbon concentration, indicating efficient conversion of soil organic carbon into microbial biomass and rapid turnover of soil organic carbon. The ELFA concentrations increased significantly in response to carbon additions, indicating that carbon supply was the main constraint to microbial activity. The large ELFA concentrations relative to soil organic carbon and the increases in ELFA response to organic carbon addition are both interpreted as evidence for the soil microbial community containing organisms with efficient scavenging mechanisms for carbon. The diversity of the ELFA profiles declined in response to organic carbon addition, suggesting the responses were driven by a portion of the community increasing in dominance whilst others declined.

Keywords

ester-linked fatty acidsexperimentationGarwood ValleyMcMurdo Dry Valleysmicro-organismssubstrate response
Type
Biological Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , February 2013 , pp. 55 - 61
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2012

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