Development of microorganisms in the chernozem under aerobic and anaerobic conditions

Abstract

A microbial succession was studied under aerobic and anaerobic conditions by means of experiments with microcosms in different horizons of a chernozem. It was revealed that, under aerobic conditions, all the microorganisms grow irrespective of the soil horizon; fungi and bacteria grow at the first succession stages, and actinomycetes grow at the last stages. It was shown that, in the case of a simulated anaerobiosis commonly used to study anaerobic populations of bacteria, the mycelium of micromycetes grows in the upper part of the chernozem’s A horizon. Under anaerobic conditions, the peak of the mycelium development is shifted from the 3rd to 7th days (typical for aerobic conditions) to the 7th to 15th days of incubation. The level of mycelium length’s stabilization under aerobic and anaerobic conditions also differs: it is higher or lower than the initial one, respectively. Under anaerobic conditions, the growth of fungal mycelium, bacteria, and actinomycetes in the lower part of the A horizon and in the B horizon is extremely weak. There was not any observed growth of actinomycetes in all the chernozem’s horizons under anaerobic conditions.