Microbial biomass and community structure changes along a so
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TitleMicrobial biomass and community structure changes along a soil development chronosequence near Lake Wellman, southern Victoria LandAbstractFour pedons on each of four drift sheets in the Lake Wellman area of the Darwin Mountains were sampled for chemical and microbial analyses. The four drifts, Hatherton, Britannia, Danum, and Isca, ranged from early Holocene (10 ka) to mid-Quaternary (c. 900 ka). The soil properties of weathering stage, salt stage, and depths of staining, visible salts, ghosts, and coherence increase with drift age. The landforms contain primarily high-centred polygons with windblown snow in the troughs. The soils are dominantly complexes of Typic Haplorthels and Typic Haploturbels. The soils were dry and alkaline with low levels of organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. Electrical conductivity was high accompanied by high levels of water soluble anions and cations (especially calcium and sulphate in older soils). Soil microbial biomass, measured as phospholipid fatty acids, and numbers of culturable heterotrophic microbes, were low, with highest levels detected in less developed soils from the Hatherton drift. The microbial community structure of the Hatherton soil also differed from that of the Britannia, Danum and Isca soils. Ordination revealed the soil microbial community structure was influenced by soil development and organic carbon. Copyright 2011 Antarctic Science Ltd.AcknowledgementsWe appreciate the financial support of the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, New Zealand (CO9X0307) and the logistic support of Antarctica New Zealand, Helicopters New Zealand, and the staff at Scott Base. Soil analyses were done in the Environmental Chemistry Laboratory, Landcare Research, New Zealand. The constructive comments of the reviewers are also gratefully acknowledged.
TypeArticleCitationAislabie, J., Bockheim, J., McLeod, M., Hunter, D., Stevenson, B. and Barker, G. (2012). Microbial biomass and community structure changes along a soil development chronosequence near Lake Wellman, southern Victoria Land. Antarctic Science, 24(2): 154-164 IdentifierAislabie2012aRelevancerank5
Barker, G., Microbial biomass and community structure changes along a so , [Aislabie2012a]. Antarctica NZ, accessed 20/06/2025, https://adam.antarcticanz.govt.nz/nodes/view/63354, 10.1017/S0954102011000873
