Effect of soil CO2 concentration on microbial biomass

The effect of increasing soil CO2 concentration was studied in six different soils. The soils were incubated in ambient air (0.05 vol.% CO2) or in air enriched with CO2 (up to 5.0 vol.% CO2). Carbon dioxide evolution, microbial biomass, growth or death rate quotients and glucose decay rate were measured at 6, 12 and 24 h of CO2 exposure. The decrease in soil respiration ranged from 7% to 78% and was followed by a decrease in microbial biomass by 10-60% in most cases. High CO2 treatments did not affect glucose decay rate but the portion of C-gluc mineralized to CO2 was lowered and a larger portion of C-gluc remained in soils. This carbon was not utilized by soil microorganisms.