SOIL AND THATCH MICROBIAL-POPULATIONS IN AN 80-PERCENT SAND 20-PERCENT PEAT CREEPING BENTGRASS PUTTING GREEN

This study examined the numbers of specific soil and thatch microbial populations in a U.S. Golf Association (USGA) specification sand-peat putting green of creeping bentgrass (Agrostis palustris Huds.) over 17 months. Changes caused by adding a water-soluble or bio-organic (water-insoluble, contains microbial inoculum) N source were examined. Thatch was found to contain 40 to 1600 times as many bacteria as the soil, 500 to 600 times as many fungi, and up to 100 times as many actinomycetes. Soil populations of nitrate- and nitrite-reducing anaerobes were similar and ranged from 10(3) to 10(5) per gram of dry soil. Adding the bio-organic N source increased soil fungal counts and thatch thickness when compared with the control (no N applied), but not as much as the water-soluble N source. The amendments had no effect on soil respiration, total organic carbon, or total N content.