MICROBIAL ECOLOGY OF SOILS FROM WILKES LAND, ANTARCTICA : II. PATTERNS OF MICROBIAL ACTIVITY AND RELATED ORGANIC AND INORGANIC MATTER (Eleventh Symposium on Polar Biology)

Concentrations and distributions of inorganic and organic matter were analyzed in soil samples and on plant material collected near Casey Station, Wilkes Land, during the austral summer of 1985/86. In addition to these parameters a detailed study of the microbial biomass and the bacterial population was carried out by estimating bacterial number and biomass by epifluorescence microscopy. Characteristics of bacterial activity were described by means of enzymatic studies as well as uptake and respiration of ^C labelled glucose. The data show wide variations of individual parameters. A correlation analysis of parameters and samples was carried out, and the correlation matrices were analyzed by different cluster algorithms. The results show significant separations of different groups of parameters and reveal different groupings of samples. They can be described by a set of parameters of which each has a homogeneous distribution. Further, it is possible to distinguish individual groups of samples by parameters with non-overlapping ranges of measurements. The discussion concentrates on the spatial organization of this environment and theoretical aspects of this ecosystem