The Soil Complex in Relation to Plant Communities: I. Oxidation-Reduction Potentials in Soils

Abstract

IT has long been recognized that all fertile soils contain bacterial and fungal systems which are capable of breaking down the soil organic matter, and it is known the transformations so produced commonly involve oxidations, though less frequently reductions may also occur. These changes have been largely ignored by field ecologists, and it is the object of the present communication to point out that a comparatively simple technique is now available which may serve to throw some light at least on these activities. The technique involved is that of measurements of the electrical potential of the soil, which, it seems probable, may be interpreted as representing the oxidation-reduction potential.