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Appl Environ Microbiol, June 1998, p. 2173-2180, Vol. 64, No. 6
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Structure of a Microbial Community in Soil after Prolonged Addition of Low Levels of Simulated Acid Rain

Taina Pennanen,1,* Hannu Fritze,1 Pekka Vanhala,2 Oili Kiikkilä,1 Seppo Neuvonen,3 and Erland Bååth4

Finnish Forest Research Institute, 01301 Vantaa,1 Finnish Environment Institute, 00250 Helsinki,2 and Kevo Subarctic Research Institute, University of Turku, 20500 Turku,3 Finland, and Department of Microbial Ecology, Lund University, 223 62 Lund, Sweden4

Received 24 November 1997/Accepted 20 March 1998

Humus samples were collected 12 growing seasons after the start of a simulated acid rain experiment situated in the subarctic environment. The acid rain was simulated with H2SO4, a combination of H2SO4 and HNO3, and HNO3 at two levels of moderate acidic loads close to the natural anthropogenic pollution levels of southern Scandinavia. The higher levels of acid applications resulted in acidification, as defined by humus chemistry. The concentrations of base cations decreased, while the concentrations of exchangeable H+, Al, and Fe increased. Humus pH decreased from 3.83 to 3.65. Basal respiration decreased with decreasing humus pH, and total microbial biomass, measured by substrate-induced respiration and total amount of phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA), decreased slightly. An altered PLFA pattern indicated a change in the microbial community structure at the higher levels of acid applications. In general, branched fatty acids, typical of gram-positive bacteria, increased in the acid plots. PLFA analysis performed on the bacterial community growing on agar plates also showed that the relative amount of PLFA specific for gram-positive bacteria increased due to the acidification. The changed bacterial community was adapted to the more acidic environment in the acid-treated plots, even though bacterial growth rates, estimated by thymidine and leucine incorporation, decreased with pH. Fungal activity (measured as acetate incorporation into ergosterol) was not affected. This result indicates that bacteria were more affected than fungi by the acidification. The capacity of the bacterial community to utilize 95 different carbon sources was variable and only showed weak correlations to pH. Differences in the toxicities of H2SO4 and HNO3 for the microbial community were not found.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Finnish Forest Research Institute, P.O. Box 18, 01301 Vantaa, Finland. Phone: 358-9-857051. Fax: 358-9-8572575. E-mail: Taina.Pennanen{at}metla.fi.

Appl Environ Microbiol, June 1998, p. 2173-2180, Vol. 64, No. 6
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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