Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T05:39:04.687Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

On the algae of some normal English soils

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

B. Muriel Bristol Roach
B. Muriel Bristol Roach
Affiliation:
(Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Herts.)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

An account is given of an investigation of the alga-flora of four English soils by means of dilution cultures of freshly gathered samples of soil from the top, second, fourth, sixth and twelfth inch depths and from the top 6 in. mixed. A counting method is described applicable to the green algae and diatoms, by means of which it is shown that these algae are distributed throughout the top 12 in. of soil, though at the sixth and twelfth inch depths they are considerably less numerous than nearer the surface. At the fourth inch depth the numbers of individuals are not significantly smaller than on the surface and may be even greater.

The unmanured plot of Broadbalk wheat field was found to contain the same main species as the adjacent farmyard manure plot but was poorer in numbers of individuate. Thirty-five species are described from each plot; they seem to be divisible into two groups, the true soil forms and casual species. Of the true soil forms some grow equally well on the surface and in the lower layers, whereas others are more numerous on the surface than within the soil. The same main types were also obtained from Barnfield and from a cottage garden, but the blue-green species were less conspicuous in both of these soils.

Experimental evidence is given to show that many of the algae of the soil exist in a vegetative condition rather than a resting condition. Biological notes are made on some of the more important or interesting soil species.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 17 , Issue 4 , October 1927 , pp. 563 - 588
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1927

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bristol, B. M. (1917). On the Life-history and Cytology of Chlorochytrium grande, sp.nov. Ann. Bot. 31, No. 121, pp. 107–125.Google Scholar
Bristol, B. M. (1919 a). On the Retention of Vitality by Algae from old stored Soils. New Phyt. 18, Nos. 3 and 4, pp. 92–107.Google Scholar
Bristol, B. M. (1919 b). On a Malay Form of Chlorococcum humicola (Naeg.) Rabenh. Journ. Linn. Soc. Bot. 44, 473–482.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bristol, B. M. (1920 a). On the Alga-Flora of some Desiccated English Soils. Ann. Bot. 34, No. 133, pp. 35–80.Google Scholar
Bristol, B. M. (1920 b). A Review of the Genus Chlorochytrium Cohn. Journ. Linn. Soc. Bot. 45, 1–28.Google Scholar
Bristol Roach, B. M. (1926). On the Relation of certain Soil Algae to some soluble Carbon Compounds. Ann. Bot. 40, No. 157, pp. 149–201.Google Scholar
Bristol Roach, B. M. (1927). Methods for use in studying the algae of the soil. Abderhalden, Handbuch der biologischen Arbeitsmethoden, Abt. XI, Teil 3.Google Scholar
Chodat, R. (1902). Algues vertes de la Suisse. Beiträge zur Kryptogamenflora der Schweiz, Bd. 1, Heft 3.Google Scholar
Chodat, R. (1909). Étude critique et expérimentale sur le Polymorphisms des Algues. Genève.Google Scholar
Chodat, R. (1913). Monographies d'Algues en Culture Pure. Matéiaux pour la Flore Cryptogamique Suisse, 4, Fasc. 2.Google Scholar
Dill, O. (1895). Die Gattung Chlamydomonas und ihre nächsten Verwandten. Jahrb. f. wiss. Botanik B, 28. Berlin.Google Scholar
Fritsch, P. E. and Salisbury, E. J. (1915). Further Observations on the Heath Association on Hindhead Common. New Phyt. 14, Nos. 4 an d 5, pp. 129–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, G. T. and Carter, N. (1926). Further Studies on the Subterranean Algal Flora of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Ann. Mo. Bot. Gard. 13, 101–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morris, H. M. (1922). The insect and other Invertebrate Fauna of Arable Land at Rothamsted. Ann. App. Biol. 9, 282–285.Google Scholar
West, G. S. (1916). Algae, 1, 172, Camb. Bot. Handbooks.Google Scholar