Journal of Environmental Biology

An appraisal of  physico-chemical and  microbiological

characteristics of Nanmangalam Reserve Forest soil 

 

 

P. Radhapriya*, A. Ramachandran, P. Dhanya, K. Remya and P. Malini

Centre for Climate Change and Adaptation Research, Anna University, Chennai-600 025, India

*Corresponding Author E-mail: radhapriya.cc@gmail.com

 

  

  Publication Data

Paper received:

05 February 2013

 

Revised received:

15 July 2013

 

Re-revised received:

11 September 2013

 

Accepted:

31 October 2013

 

Abstract

A detailed evaluation was performed on the soils of Nanmangalam Reserve Forest (NRF) in order to understand its physico-chemical, microbiological and enzymatic characteristics. The results of  analysis showed that soil pH was directly proportional to the soil depth and the soil moisture content was irreversibly related to varying soil depth. Soil organic carbon was positively correlated with (p < 0.01) with total nitrogen, total bacterial count, cellulytic microbes, nitrogen–fixing bacteria, microbial biomass carbon, dehydrogenase activity and soil respiration. During summer, microbial population in the organic layer was more diverse than in the deepest layer. Analysis showed that NRF had low organic carbon content (less than 1%), microbial biomass, nutrient and functional microbes. The overall results of the analysis reinstate that Nanmangalam forest soil is undergoing degradation.

 

Key words

Degraded forest, Microbial biomass, Nutrients, Soil organic carbon, Total and functional microbes

 

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