PARENT SESSION
Poster Session 23: Soil Ecology
Wednesday, August 10, 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM, Exhibit Hall 220 A-E, Level 2, Palais des congrès de Montréal

Influence of Landuse on selected soil enzyme activity and microbial diversity.

Ankumah, Ramble ^*,1, Thompson, Mieko¹, Derant, Michelle², Parke, Vada¹, Williams, Candiss³, Groffman, Peter⁴, ¹ Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL, United States² Okawood College, Huntsville, AL, United States³ Purdue University, West Lafeyette, IN, United States⁴ Institute for Ecosystems Studies, Millbrook, New York, United States

ABSTRACT- The effect of activities on soil quality is important to accessing the impact of these processes on the major functions of the soil, especially in its role in the cycling of C, N and P. Attempts to define indices to characterize soil quality has intensified in recent years in response to the many anthropogenic perturbation on soil, which are having significant effect of the ability of soils to provide ecosystem functions. Recently soil enzyme activity and evaluation of microbial diversity in soils have been proposed as possible indicators of soil quality. The over all objective of this study is to quantify the differences of land use in Baltimore, Maryland, which has an impact on the Chesapeake Bay area by quantifying selective soil enzyme activity and soil microbial communities. Representative environmental samples from forest, agricultural, and urban soils were examined to evaluate selected enzyme activity (alkaline phosphatase, phosphodiesterase, arylsufatase) and the suitability of PCR-DGGE as a tool for assessing microbial diversity in soil. Phosphomonoesterases (Alkaline) activity was determined using a modification of the assay method of Eivazi and Tabatabai (1977). Phosphodiesterase activity was determined using a modification of the assay method of Brownman and Tabatabai (1978). Arylsulfatase activity was determined using a modification of the assay method of Tabatabai and Bremner (1970). Whole community DNA was extracted from each soil samples and than run on DGGE to evaluate microbial dievrsity. Significant differences in soil enzyme activities were observed between forest agricultural and urban for all selected soil enzyme activities evaluated. No significant difference in alkaline phosphatase activity or phosphodiesterase activity between tillage, no tillage and organic agriculture plots were observed, however a significant difference (p> 0.0001) was observed in arylsulfatase activity between tillage and no tillage and organic agricultural plots. PCR-DGGE of the soils also showed that shifts in microbial population occurred under the various land use. Preliminary results of this work indicate that DNA extractions from soil followed by DGGE may be a promising tool to evaluate land use effects on soil quality.

Key words: soil enzyme activity, microbial diversity, soil quality, land use