Biomass, composition and temporal dynamics of soil organisms of a silt loam soil under conventional and integrated management

Abstract

Field plots under conventional (CF) or integrated (IF) farming were sampled for various soil organisms. Total biomass of soil organisms was, on average, 690 kg C ha-1 under CF and 907 kg C ha-1 under IF during the growing season. Bacteria constituted >90%, fungi c5%, and protozoa <2% of the total biomass. Nematodes and microarthropods were less important in terms of biomass C. Carbon flow through the protozoa was estimated to be 158 and 195 kg C ha-1yr-1 in CF and IF, respectively, corresponding to 20% of the estimated bacterial production in both CF and IF. Nitrogen mineralization by protozoa was 30.5 and 37.6 kg N ha-1yr-1 in CF and IF, respectively. -from Authors