Microbial Diversity and Enzyme Activity in Organic Farming vs. Conventional Farming Shantel L. King Major Advisor: Dr.

Ramble O. Ankumah
Over the last twenty years organic farming acreages have increased as an alternative solution to the traditional or modern agriculture which practice is heavily dependent on inorganic fertilizers and other agricultural chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and insecticides). These practices have been associated with loss of soil fertility, soil erosion, and ground water pollution which in turn can affect the ability of soils to process nutrients and waste, and can also affect ecosystem processes. Understanding the effects of organic farming on soil functions as compared to conventional agriculture is important in protecting soils from degradation and improving ecosystem processes in soils. These land uses have also been reported to impact soil microbial and biochemical properties. Soil enzyme activity and microbial community assessment have been suggested as possible measures of the soil ecosystems function. Among soil enzyme activity measurements reported to correlate with soil biological activity are dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase, arylsulfatase, and phosphodiesterase. For example alkaline phosphatase activity has been correlated with microbial respiration, biomass, and soil organic matter, and phosphodiesterase activity has been associated with breakdown of nucleic acid. Recent reports have also indicated that measurement of microbial community composition and shifts in response to disturbances in the soil may offer insight and opportunities in quantifying the effect of land use and environmental influences on a soils ability to function properly. This in turn may help in the search for general indicators, which could be used to assess soil quality. This study seeks to examine the impact of organic farming and conventional farming systems on soil quality using soil enzyme quality and microbial diversity as measures of soil quality. The specific objectives are: to evaluate the effects of organic and conventional farming on microbial diversity (ii) soil enzyme activity and iii) compare these with soil chemical and physical parameters (organic matter, pH and bulk density). Soil samples will be collected from two long term organic and nonorganic farming plots located in Roanoke, PA. Microbial diversity will be determined by whole DNA extraction followed by DGGE. Soil enzyme activity will be measured using the phosphomoesterases and phosphodiesterase as a measure of enzyme activity. In addition to these measurements, soil organic carbon, pH and bulk density will be measured. Results from community measurements will be compared with organic matter content, and soil enzyme activities. A relationship of how these parameters are influenced by the two farming systems will then be evaluated. It is hypothesized that the organic farming plots will have higher organic matter, microbial diversity and soil enzyme activity compared to the conventional tillage plots.
. References: 1. Esperschutz J., Gattinger, A., Mader, P., Schloter, M. and FleiBach, A. (2007)Response of soil microbial biomass and community structures to conventional and organic farming systems under identical crop rotations. FEMS Microbiology Ecology. 61 26-37. 2. Anna K. Bandick and Richard P. Dick. 1999. Field management effects on soil enzyme activities. Soil Biology and Biochemistry . 31:1471-1479. 3. Bo, L., Cong, T., Shuijin, H., Gumpertz, M., Ristaino, J.B. 2007. Effect of organic, sustainable, and conventional management strategies in grower fields on soil physical, chemical, and biological factors and the incidence of Southern blight. Applied Soil Ecology. 37:202-214.