Three-dimensional soil organic matter distribution, accessibility and microbial respiration in macroaggregates using osmium staining and synchrotron X-ray computed tomography

Rawlins, Barry G.; Wragg, Joanna; Reinhard, Christina; Atwood, Robert C.; Houston, Alasdair; Lark, R. Murray; Rudolph, Sebastian

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-659-2016

Articles | Volume 2, issue 4

https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-659-2016

© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-659-2016

© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 2, issue 4

Original research article

|

15 Dec 2016

Original research article |

| 15 Dec 2016

Three-dimensional soil organic matter distribution, accessibility and microbial respiration in macroaggregates using osmium staining and synchrotron X-ray computed tomography

Barry G. Rawlins, Joanna Wragg, Christina Reinhard, Robert C. Atwood, Alasdair Houston, R. Murray Lark, and Sebastian Rudolph

Video supplement

Slices through aggregates using synchrotron X-racy computed tomography B. G. Rawlins https://doi.org/10.5446/18549

Short summary

We do not understand processes by which soil bacteria and fungi feed on soil organic matter (SOM). Previous research suggests the location of SOM in aggregates may influence whether bacteria can feed on it more easily. We did an experiment to identify the distribution of SOM on very small scales within nine soil aggregates. There was no clear evidence that the distribution of organic matter influenced how easily the organic matter was fed upon by bacteria.