抄録
Microbial biomass in the soils of burned and unburned Japanese red pine forests in the Setouchi District, Western Japan was determined by a slightly modified chloroform fumigation-incubation method. Averages±standard deviations of microbial biomass carbon (C) of 36 unit samples in the 0-5cm soil layers at burned sites located in Ato and Nenoura were 307±206 and 789±274mg kg-1 dry soil, respectively, and that at an unburned site at Ato was 408±213 mg kg-1 dry soil. Soil microbial biomass C at the burned sites were approximately the same or slightly higher than at the unburned site. In contrast with soil microbial biomass, the above-ground plant biomass at the burned sites was about one-fifth or one-sixth of that at the unburned site. Microbial biomass C in the FH layer at the unburned site at Ato was 13.38±6.13g kg-1 dry soil. No significant fluctuations of microbial biomass were observed through 1 year in the 0-5cm soil layers at either the burned and unburned sites, nor in the FH layer at the unburned site. The ratios of microbial biomass C to total C in the soils at the burned sites were 3.2-3.3%, significantly higher than those at the unburned site (2.1%). Significant correlations were observed between microbial biomass C and some soil characteristics, such as contents of total C, total nitrogen (N) and water, in both burned and unburned soils.
