Encouraging Good

Soil Biology
Lancrop Laboratories Technical Bulletin No 27

The Living Soil

There are a multitude of microorganisms in every handful of soil. If the soil is to be healthy, fertile and
productive, then this population of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes and arthropods should be of
adequate size, diversity and activity.
Approaches to farm management can have great influence upon this soil biology. For example,
cultivation practices, fertiliser and chemical inputs, application of organic manures and slurries will all
have an impact. Research suggests that good practices will allow populations of soil microbes to naturally
recover to optimum levels but that too many undesirable soil conditions inhibit such a recovery.

Soil pH

The ideal soil pH for nutrient availability and fertiliser efficiency (approx. 6.5 to 7.5) is also ideal for soil
biology. An excessively low or high soil pH can kill off many of the most beneficial organisms, or at least
reduce activity, or cause them to go into hibernation in the case of encysting organisms.

Soil Organic Matter (SOM)

Usually 1-5% of SOM consists of soil organisms. The rest is formed of high carbon molecules such as
Humic acids. These molecules are often very complex, but yield a high level of nutrients for both
microbiology and plants. Essentially, the SOM is both the habitat and food source of soil biology, with the
simple compounds being decomposed quickly mainly by bacteria and the more complex compounds
being broken down over a longer period mainly by fungi, and macronutrients like Nitrogen being recycled
by predation of these two groups of organisms by protozoa and some nematodes. A good example of
how plant nutrients are released through this food chain is demonstrated by the fact that the C:N ratio in
bacteria is approx. 3:1 but in protozoa (the next level up in the chain) it is approx. 10:1. Therefore, as
protozoa prey on bacteria, the excess N is released as excreta in a plant available form.

SOM also builds structure to the soil, which aids growth of soil biology, and provides a stable
environment to prevent it being lost due to water erosion.

Compaction
Compaction causes a low oxygen environment within the soil. This changes the conditions, chemistry
and ability of the soil to support life in the form of microbes and plants. Most of the beneficial microbes in
the soil are aerobic and so need oxygen to stay alive and competitive. Anaerobic organisms produce
different by-products that are not as useful to the plant, and breakdown of lignin (woody material) can
only be performed by a select few organisms which are all aerobic. Therefore, plant residues will only
decompose and return nutrients to the soil if soil conditions are good. Nitrification and denitrification
balances also change under anaerobic conditions reducing fertiliser efficiency.

Waterlogging

Waterlogging can have much the same effect as compaction, in that it results in a very low oxygen level
in the soil. Excess water also effectively puts a barrier between the soil and the air so, as oxygen isnt
very soluble, it diffuses through the water at a much reduced rate. In addition, the balance of soil
microbes changes when submerged. Fungi are destroyed resulting in the soil becoming more bacterially
dominated and slowing or stopping the release of high nutrient containing complex carbon compounds.

Lancrop Laboratories is a trading name of Yara UK Limited All analytical services are subject to our Terms
Yara UK Limited, Registered Office, Harvest House, Europarc, Grimsby, N E Lincolnshire, DN37 9TZ. Registered in England No. 03818176 of Supply, available upon request.
 Encouraging Good
Soil Biology

Soil Temperature

Like many biological/chemical processes, decomposition rate increases with increasing temperature. As
the soil can vary in temperature from sub zero to 30C or higher, there is variation in this rate of
decomposition. As with pH, if the temperature is outside the optimum range, soil microbes will enter
dormancy or even die. At high temperatures there is also the risk of dessication, and at very low
temperature the risk of freezing which is particularly harmful for bacteria, as ice crystals slice through
their cells quite readily because of the absence of the cell walls that fungi have (which does not by any
means make them immune, but it can help in marginal situations).
Generally, the higher the temperature, the quicker the use and decomposition of nutrients, and the more
peaks and troughs in population you will get as nutrients are added into the system from previously
inaccessible pools or inputs.

Cultivation Techniques

There is a lot of research into the effects of cultivation on soil biology, most of it agreeing that minimum or
no tillage systems produce net higher levels of beneficial soil microbial populations. These benefits will be
due in part to the fact that cultivation often destroys fungal hyphae networks which process nutrients,
decompose sessile materials and interact with plants. However, there is also an argument for cultivation
in that it allows oxygen into the soil, which is beneficial for promoting aerobic biology, and that breaking
up some of the networks frees up nutrients from the dead organisms to promote nutrient cycling.
There are models (Hustons equilibrium model for example) to try to predict the effects of cultivation on
soil biology. Generally, disturbance in soil with high SOM is good because it prevents the domination of
quickly growing organisms over the slower growing organisms. With low SOM, low disturbance is best, as
there is not enough resource present to allow the quickly growing organisms to dominate, and
disturbance will kill organisms both quick and slow growing, whilst producing an environment favouring
mineralisation sending the organisms (who rely on access to organic molecules) into hibernation.

FYM/Slurry Use

Application of organic manures will promote aerobic soil biology because of the organic form of nutrients
in the material, and the presence of undigested food residues. However, it will slightly favour bacteria as
the forms of nutrients are often simple, given that the breakdown process was started within the animal.
Potentially, it may be beneficial to add some lignocellulosic material to the FYM/slurry before application,
as this will give a complex source of nutrients for fungi, promoting the sustainable growth of bacteria in
the medium/longer term.

Plant Residues and Waste Product Use

Some materials e.g. paper pulp, plant residues and chopped straw will promote fungal growth because of
the lingocellulosic content but, as mentioned above, good aerobic soil conditions must first be in place to
maximise the benefit. Some food waste will also promote fungal and bacterial growth, but this has to be
carefully monitored and considered, because addition of simple sugar based compounds will heavily
favour bacteria, which will exponentially grow and dominate the system if not checked. This will also
cause the nutrients to run out and, if very high levels of bacteria grow, sometimes the oxygen. The best
advice when it comes to food waste use is: complex carbohydrate addition (such as starches), because
initially this will favour fungal growth which can break down the complex molecules into simpler ones
which bacteria will further process. This gives an even promotion of growth and enables the cycling of
nutrients to the plants as well.
Lancrop Laboratories is a trading name of Yara UK Limited All analytical services are subject to our Terms
Yara UK Limited, Registered Office, Harvest House, Europarc, Grimsby, N E Lincolnshire, DN37 9TZ. Registered in England No. 03818176 of Supply, available upon request.
 Encouraging Good
Soil Biology

Digestate Application

Recently trials performed on the use of Anaerobic Digestate (AD) as an amendment to benefit soil
biology have produced mixed results. AD has high levels of plant available Nitrogen, and can increase
the SOM and bulk density of soil. However, because of the way it is produced, it will contain by-products
of anaerobic organisms (see compaction) which can be toxic to the aerobic organisms which provide
benefits to plants. In short, AD is a nutrient addition, bypassing the soil biology and giving a short term hit
of plant available nutrients, but not necessarily benefiting soil biology on the longer term

Fungicides

Broad spectrum fungicides will act against beneficial fungi as well as fungal pathogens, reducing the
soils capacity to decompose complex material and transform inaccessible nutrients into useful
compounds. Application strategy should therefore be considered when trying to protect the soil biology
e.g. apply only when necessary and ensure, where possible, that foliar applications are not allowed to
contaminate the soil. Since fungi are slower growing, any detrimental effects are proportionally more
severe than those on bacteria. As with all crop protection products, intelligent application and use only
where necessary is the best course of action, as opposed to general prophylactic applications.

Pesticides

Similarly to fungicides, there will likely be collateral damage to the soil biology (especially soil arthropods)
and, once again, a good management approach should be adopted.

Biocontrol and Inocculants

These represent a more integrated solution to eliminating pathogens, and will in most cases claim to
avoid much of the collateral damage caused by chemical biocides. Since many biocontrol species are
endemic to soil anyway, they should not have too much of a negative knock on effect on the soil biology.
However, there is always a shift in competitive balance when biocontrols are added, as many are
selected for their vigour and quick growth (e.g. Trichoderma and Gliocladium), as competition is one of
the key biocontrol mechanisms. In addition, they usually need to be applied at high rates. This means
that the beneficial microbiology present in the soil can get pushed out in favour of some of these
biocontrol organisms, reducing the level of nutrient cycling and benefit to the plant. One of the benefits of
a healthy soil biology is that the natural competition means that pathogens are already at a disadvantage,
and so there is an argument that biocontrols are not necessarily needed as a healthy soil biology is all
that is needed to provide control.

For information on our Soil Biology analysis packages please contact Lancrop Laboratories.

Tel: 01759 305116 or email: soilanalysis@yara.com

Lancrop Laboratories is a trading name of Yara UK Limited All analytical services are subject to our Terms
Yara UK Limited, Registered Office, Harvest House, Europarc, Grimsby, N E Lincolnshire, DN37 9TZ. Registered in England No. 03818176 of Supply, available upon request.