Soil CO2 evolution: Response from arginine additions

Short-term response of soil C mineralization following drying/rewetting has been proposed as an indicator of soil microbial activity. Houston Black clay was amended with four rates of arginine to vary microbial responses and keep other soil properties constant. The evolution of CO2 during 1 and 3 days following rewetting of dried soil was highly related to CO2 evolution during 10 days following chloroform fumigation (r2 = 0.92 and 0.93, respectively) which is a widely used method for soil microbial biomass C, which disrupts cellular membranes. This study suggest that the release of CO2 following rewetting of dried soil with no amendments other than heat and water can be highly indicative of soil microbial activity and possibly be used as a quantitative measurement of soil biological quality in Houston Black soils.