Decomposition Of Wheat Straw Research Articles

Organic Matter Decomposition as Influenced by Oxygen Level and Flow Rate of Gases in the Constant Aeration Method

AbstractLaboratory experiments were conducted to determine the rate of decomposition of wheat straw added to soil when continuous aeration was conducted with N2‐O2 gas mixtures containing 0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.5, 5.0, and 21% oxygen at flow rates of ⅛, ¼, ½, 1, and 2 liters per hour. Rates of decomposition and total decomposition were followed by determination of wheat straw carbon evolved as CO2.Total decomposition at all oxygen levels varied directly with aeration flow rate, except for the 0% level where an inverse relationship was observed.Microbial activity at the 21% oxygen level was greatly stimulated as flow rate increased from ⅛ through 2 liters per hour.A rapid increase in microbial activity occurred for the 0.5, 1.0, 2.5, and 5.0% oxygen levels as flow rate increased from ⅛ through ½ liters per hour, however, little increase in CO2 production was observed at higher flow rates.

Mineral Nitrogen Immobilization and Carbon Dioxide Production during Decomposition of Wheat Straw in Soil as Influenced by Temperature

Mineral Nitrogen Immobilization and Carbon Dioxide Production during Decomposition of Wheat Straw in Soil as Influenced by Temperature

EFFECT OF CROP DEBRIS, PLANT ROOTS, AND CROP SEQUENCE ON THE MICROBIAL FLORA OF THE SOIL IN RELATION TO ROOT ROT IN CEREAL CROPS

The decomposition of wheat, oat, or barley straw in soil caused a marked increase in the microflora, as indicated by plate counts. The oat straw compost yielded significantly more colonies of fungi than either the wheat or barley straw composts. The population of bacteria and actinomycetes was increased to about the same degree by all three of the composts.In another laboratory experiment, wheat, oats, barley, and beans were planted in various rotations in pots of soil from field plots known to be heavily infested with the root-rotting pathogens Helminthosporium sativum P. K. and B., Ophiobolus graminis Sacc., and Fusarium spp. Fungi, mostly Penicillium spp. and Mucor spp., were up to 15 times more abundant from the rhizosphere of wheat roots than from the rhizosphere of oat, barley, or bean roots, regardless of crop sequence. It is assumed that the higher counts of saprophytic fungi obtained from the rhizosphere of wheat seedlings were directly correlated with the greater amount of dead root tissue on this crop, since disease on the wheat seedlings was more severe than on the other hosts. In a duplicate experiment in fallow soil, the rhizospheres of wheat, oats, barley, and beans yielded about equal numbers of fungi.