Spatial changes of soil fungal and bacterial biomass from a sub-alpine coniferous forest to grassland in a humid, sub-tropical region

 Fungal and bacterial biomass were determined across a gradient from a forest to grassland in a sub-alpine region in central Taiwan. The respiration-inhibition and ergosterol methods for the evaluation of the microbial biomass were compared. Soil fungal and bacterial biomass both significantly decreased (P<0.05) with the shift of vegetation from forest to grassland. Fungal and bacterial respiration rates (evolved CO2) were, respectively, 89.1 μl CO2 g–1 soil h–1 and 55.1 μl CO2 g–1 soil h–1 in the forest and 36.7 μl CO2 g–1 soil h–1 and 35.7 μl CO2 g–1 soil h–1 in the grassland surface soils (0–10 cm). The fungal ergosterol content in the surface soil decreased from the forest zone (108 μg g–1) to the grassland zone (15.9 μg g–1). A good correlation (R2=0.90) was exhibited between the soil fungal ergosterol content and soil fungal CO2 production (respiration) for all sampling sites. For the forest and grassland soil profiles, microbial biomass (respiration and ergosterol) declined dramatically with depth, ten- to 100-fold from the surface organic horizon to the deepest mineral horizon. With respect to fungal to bacterial ratios for the surface soil (0–10 cm), the forest zone had a significantly (P<0.05) higher ratio (1.65) than the grassland zone (1.05). However, there was no fungal to bacterial ratio trend from the surface horizon to the deeper mineral horizons of the soil profiles.