A Glass Micro-bead System for the Investigation of Soil Micro-organisms

Abstract

INVESTIGATION of the microbial flora of soils is greatly complicated by the physical complexity of soil as a medium. There are, of course, many biochemical and respirometric studies of the activity of micro-organisms in soil which treat it as though it is a homogeneous tissue. In fact, however, the system lacks continuity and consists of innumerable semi-independent micro-habitats. Soil is a porous medium with large internal surface. The distribution, retention or movement of water in soil depends on capillary and surface forces, and is of great moment in determining the distribution of micro-organisms and the characteristics of the micro-habitats that can be colonized if substrate is present. Most natural soils are texturally heterogeneous with the result that the behaviour of microorganisms in them is the summation of many different situations.