Chemistry and microbial activity of forest and pasture riparian-zone soils along three Pacific Northwest streams

Griffiths, Robert P. and Entry, James A. and Ingham, Elaine R. and Emmingham, William H. (1997) Chemistry and microbial activity of forest and pasture riparian-zone soils along three Pacific Northwest streams. Plant and Soil. 190(1):169-178.

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Abstract

Throughout the United States, agricultural practices are responsible for large quantities of nutrients entering lakes
and streams. Previous studies have shown that forested riparian areas can filter nutrients from surface runoff and
groundwater that may potentially contaminate lakes and streams. This study examined seasonal differences in
soil chemistry and soil microorganisms in paired mixed-forest riparian and pasture systems, the aim being to
gain understanding of the sequestering of N and P. The forest soils retained higher levels of organic C and N,
mineralizable N, extractable P, and fungal biomass, and had higher respiration rates than pasture soils. These
findings suggest that forested riparian zones have a greater capacity than pasture soils to sequester C and retain
nutrients. In past studies, fungal biomass has been shown to be less than bacterial biomass in grassland soils, but in
this study, fungal biomass was greater than bacterial biomass throughout the year in both forest and pasture soils.

Item Type:	Article
NWISRL Publication Number:	0949
Subjects:	Soil > Chemistry Mass Import - autoclassified (may be erroneous)
Depositing User:	Dan Stieneke
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2010 21:54
Last Modified:	21 Nov 2016 19:47
Item ID:	685
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/685