Meeting on the Microbiology of Soils, Autumn 2001

Abstract

This paper reviews the principal outcomes from analyses of the soil protozoan community of an upland grassland site in Scotland. An assessment of the protozoan community growth potential of 150 soil samples revealed that abundance increased in the order ciliates < testate amoebae < naked amoebae < flagellates and was inversely proportional to organism size within each functional group, whilst species richness appeared to be invariant with size. These results are consistent with the observed fractal structure of flooded Sourhope soil. Protozoan species are randomly distributed across the site and species which are globally abundant are also abundant at Sourhope, which is consistent with the hypothesis of ubiquitous dispersal of protozoan species. The potential contribution of protozoa to carbon cycling in soil was confirmed in soil microcosms in which the presence of protozoa increased carbon dioxide production significantly.