ISSN:
1573-5036
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture, Fishery, Domestic Science, Nutrition
Notes:
Summary An ecological study of the soil micro-fungi in three forest regions of different age was undertaken. The pH of the soil varied from 6.6 to 6.9. Soil samples were collected from three different depthsviz 0–6, 7–12, and 13–18 inches with aseptic precautions and were studied by a dilution-plate method using peptone-dextrose agar with rose bengal for the fungal analysis. Determinations were made of physico-chemical characters of soil such as organic matter, total nitrogen, phosphorus, water-holding capacity and pH of the soil. The organic matter and nitrogen favoured the growth of fungi in the soil. The upper horizon contained more of the organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus, and perhaps other elements, which in turn favoured the growth of fungi in soil. The number of fungi decreased according to increase in depth of the soil samples. The frequency and abundance of some dominant fungi have been calculated and the fungal population has been represented both qualitatively and quantitatively. The pattern of colonization of nutrient agar by fungi from soil inocula changed with the increase of concentration of staling products produced by earlier established fungal colonies. At the highest concentration of staling the fungi colonizing the agar disks were species ofTrichoderma, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Curvularia, Alternaria andFusarium. The capacity of species to colonize the staled nutrient medium was due partly to tolerance of the metabolic products diffused in agar disks and partly to density of the population in the inoculated soil. The comparative account of germinated spores on unsterilized and sterilized soil and in controlled condition shows that fungistatic activity is higher in unsterilized soil. In Table 4 the F3, an oldest soil sample has more fungistatic activity than F1 and F2, due to more litter deposition on the floor, which increases the population of micro-organisms and fungistatic activity.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01372758
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