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Microbial biomass and community structure changes along a soil development chronosequence near Lake Wellman, southern Victoria Land

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2011

Jackie Aislabie ,
James Bockheim ,
Malcolm Mcleod ,
David Hunter ,
Bryan Stevenson  and
Gary M. Barker
Jackie Aislabie*
Affiliation:
Landcare Research, Private Bag 3127, Hamilton, New Zealand
James Bockheim
Affiliation:
Department of Soil Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706-1299, USA
Malcolm Mcleod
Affiliation:
Landcare Research, Private Bag 3127, Hamilton, New Zealand
David Hunter
Affiliation:
Landcare Research, Private Bag 3127, Hamilton, New Zealand
Bryan Stevenson
Affiliation:
Landcare Research, Private Bag 3127, Hamilton, New Zealand
Gary M. Barker
Affiliation:
Department of Soil Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706-1299, USA
*
aislabiej@landcareresearch.co.nz
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Abstract

Four 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.

Keywords

Darwin Mountainshigh latitude soilsmicrobial phospholipid fatty acids
Type
Biological Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , 28 February 2012 , pp. 154 - 164
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2011

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