Survey of Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary
F. SOIL TESTS
Soil is composed of 4 recognizable layers (Fig. 7):
A00 - Litter layer composed of large dead leaves from the previous Fall.
A0 - Duff layer composed of decaying leaf fragments.
A1 - Organic material from decomposition mixed with sand grains, clay or silt; most roots of plants are found here.
A2 - Layer with little organic material or nutrients.
Figure 7. Soil Layers
The following analyses were carried out on A00, A0 and A1 soil layers:
1. Berlese funnel on A00 and A0 leafy layers to determine invertebrate fauna. Berlese funnel invertebrate macroorganisms found included one ant, three millipedes, and one grub. When we used our microscope we found an additional 22 microorganisms under low power, and an additional nine under high power. These consisted of mites, spring tails, beetles, and thrips.
2. Soil organisms from the A1 layer using wet culture for nematods and algae. When we studied the soil under a microscope we found soil and plant fragments, along with two visible nematodes. There would have been countless nematodes, we concurred, had they not been screened out by a filter.
3. Agar plate cultures of the A1 soil layer for bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes. We found bacterial colonies, actinomycetes, and molds when we studied the cultures under a microscope. In the 1:1000 field we found 2,064,000 bacteria per gram of soil. In the 1:100 field we found 680,000 bacteria per gram of soil.
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