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Soils as Habitats for Microorganisms

  • Chapter
Geoecology of Antarctic Ice-Free Coastal Landscapes

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 154))

Abstract

It is more than a small step into the living sphere of microorganisms. They have special demands for their living space, like plants for their rooting space. The supply of heat, water, soil gases, organic matter and inorganic nutrients presents the general framework. The range of their homes and their activities at the micro-scale is dominated much more directly by physical and chemical laws. Transport mechanisms of dissolved organic and inorganic nutrients as well as gases primarily follow the forces of diffusion rather than active transport mechanisms. Originally, physically driven movements, e.g. cryoturbation, become more important than biomechanical activities, e.g. bioturbation. This holds especially true for the polar soils, where only few micro-arthropods and nematodes can be busy at this job (Block 1984). Thus, we shift from animal-mediated transport of material and breakdown of structural matter and approach an environment of chemical processes driven by physical processes, mainly temperature. This applies to the final degradation of organic matter by enzymes as well as for the chemical weathering processes.

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Authors
  1. M. Bölter
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  2. H.-P. Blume
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Polarökologie, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148, Kiel, Germany

    Lothar Beyer  & Manfred Bölter  & 

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Bölter, M., Blume, HP. (2002). Soils as Habitats for Microorganisms. In: Beyer, L., Bölter, M. (eds) Geoecology of Antarctic Ice-Free Coastal Landscapes. Ecological Studies, vol 154. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-56318-8_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-56318-8_16

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-62674-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-56318-8

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