The number of microorganisms in the soil under different gras-legume mixtures

Abstract

The total number of microorganisms in the soil under grass-leguminous mixtures fertilized with different mineral nitrogen rates with or without the use of liming was investigated in the paper. The trial was set up on the humus-siliceous soil on Mt. Kopaonik during 2001. Microbiological analyses comprising the total number of microorganisms, ammonifiers and soil fungi were made towards the end of 2003. The highest total number of microorganisms and number of ammonifiers were registered in the soil under the grass-leguminous mixture consisting of red clover, orchard grass, red fescue and timothy grass and the lowest one in the variant including the grasses mentioned with white clover. Higher nitrogen rates (100 kg ha’) had a depressive effect on the soil biological parameters studied, particularly in the variants without liming.