The biological assessment of soil fertility
| ISSN: |
1573-5036
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| Source: |
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
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| Topics: |
Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture, Fishery, Domestic Science, Nutrition
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| Notes: |
Summary In order to obtain an insight into the fertility state of a soil under different agricultural crops the intensity of the living dynamics in such soils together with their humus dynamics were studied. Formazan formation (Dehydrogenase test) and oxygen consumption (Warburg method) were used for the characterisation of the biological activity of the soils, whereas the acriflavine adsorption capacity of humus served as a means to follow the humus turnover in the soils. Although the dehydrogenase activity of a soil may serve as a quick and preliminary ‘over-all’ enzyme test for the evaluation of its biological potentialities, only the oxygen consumption, measured manometrically, in connection with the determination of the humus turnover during long periods of incubation by its acriflavine adsorption opens possibilities to study soil fertility problems under biological considerations. Furthermore, the data suggest to follow the quality of the biological activity by plotting the extinction values of the total humus extracted in order to characterize the fluctuations and shifting of the individual components in the ‘humus spectrum’ of the soil samples.
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| Type of Medium: |
Electronic Resource
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| URL: |