Plant-produced phenolic compounds inhibit soil microbial activity and are suspected to be involved in the failure of natural regeneration of French subalpine Norway spruce (Picea abies) forests. This work evaluated relationships between phenolic compounds and soil microorganisms in humus collected in spruce forest during winter and summer seasons. After having identified and quantified different phenolics from humus samples, we incubated another set of humus samples with 10 times the concentration of naturally occurring phenolics, and effects on the density of microorganisms were compared to humus with no addition of phenolic compounds. Furthermore, in order to follow the degradation of phenolic compounds by microbes, the concentration of phenolics in the incubated humus samples was determined by HPLC after three and six days of incubation. The results indicate that humus microorganisms use phenolics as a carbon source, since almost all phenolic compounds had disappeared after six days of incubation. Addition of phenolic compounds to the humus samples also affected the soil microbial populations so that bacteria were inhibited in the humus collected both in the winter and in the summer. However, there were differences between the experiments. Fungi and cellulose hydrolyzers were stimulated in the winter humus experiment, while fungi were unaffected and cellulose hydrolyzers were inhibited in the summer experiment. The addition of phenolic compounds stimulated ammonifiers in the summer experiment. We anticipate that the role of soil microorganisms in the problem of natural regeneration failure is probably more important than previously thought.
