Tarn TY, Mayfield CI, Inniss WE. Microbial decomposition of leaf material at 0°C.
MICROBIAL ECOLOGY 1983;
9:355-362. [PMID:
24221823 DOI:
10.1007/bf02019024]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
The microbial decomposition of leaves (both fresh and autumnshed) at 0°C using stream sediment-water was investigated. The maximum rates of loss of leaf carbohydrate and protein at 0°C were considerable, being about 40% of those at 20°C. These rates were only slightly affected by the type of leaf material present being 1.3-fold higher with fresh leaves as compared with autumn-shed leaves. In addition, an epifluorescence microscopic counting technique was developed and utilized to enumerate the microbial populations colonizing the decomposing leaves. The average microbial densities on fresh and autumn-shed leaves after 35 days of incubation were 1.3 × 10(6) and 9.0 × 10(5) microorganisms cm(-2) at 0°C as compared with 5.5 × 10(6) and 3.3 × 10(6) microorganisms cm(-2) at 20°C, respectively. Antibacterial and antifungal antibiotics were used to estimate the comparative involvement of sediment bacteria and fungi in leaf degradation.
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