Evaluation of the Effects of Tillage On Microbial Community Structure, Membership, and Function.

Tillage disturbs topsoil and alters soil communities. Soil enzymes arise from microorganisms in the soil and respond to small changes in the soil.  Research recognized SOM as an indicator of soil quality.  The extraction of soil DNA and subsequent phylogenetic analyses provides tools for analyzing bacterial communities, and utilize them as molecular based indicators of soil quality that are more sensitive to change than those based on physical and chemical properties of the soil.  The aims of this study were to: evaluate phosphatase activity for tilled soils, and to evaluate the effect of tillage on microbial diversity using PCR-DGGE, PLFA, and pyrosequencing. Organic carbon and pH were determined using standard methods. A significant difference (P< 0.5) was found between pH, % carbon, phosphomonoesterases activity and phosphodiesterase activity. Results form molecular analyses suggested differences between the tillage systems at different levels of specificity.