Impacts of soil storage on microbial parameters

Abstract

This review aims to determine the impact of soil storage on microbial parameters (e.g. abundance, biomass, activity, and various diversity metrics). The literature dealing with the impact of storage practices (cold storage, freezing, drying, freeze-drying, and ambient storage) on soil microbial parameters was analysed and covered 76 articles representing 289 basic data (the impact of a given storage practice on a microbial parameter). Globally, more than 75 % of these data showed a significant impact of storage on the measured microbial parameters, compared with those measured on fresh, non-stored soil samples. The storage practices showed various effects on the soil microbial parameters, with sometimes opposite effects across different soil types. For instance, the effects of a given storage practice on different enzyme activities in the same soil were not constant; moreover, the effects of a given storage practice on a given enzyme activity varied across different soils. Several factors may explain the variability in the storage impact (e.g. storage duration, soil type and/or land use, and climate condition), but the available data are too scattered to elucidate their respective roles. However, a few storage recommendations can be made, depending on the microbial parameters studied. Storage practices for soil samples, when unavoidable, should be carefully selected according to (1) the conditions that prevail in the native soil environment and (2) the microbial parameters that are analysed (even though there is rarely consensus on a best practice), and different storage practices should be utilised for different microbial parameters if necessary.