Bulk soil is the surrounding or reference soil sampled separately from root-associated material in a specified experiment. Its meaning is operational: the sampling distance, soil layer and treatment history determine the comparison. A2012 Arabidopsis thaliana study used parallel pots without a plant as bulk soil controls when comparing root-associated bacterial communities.[ref]
An invented example illustrates why the reference matters. Suppose an assay gives6 units in bulk soil A and10 units in its root-associated sample, but26 and30 units for the corresponding samples from soil B. Both within-soil differences are4 units. Comparing10 directly with30 would mix the difference in starting soil with the root-associated contrast. The example is a comparison of additive assay responses, not a claim about a measured bacterial population.
Bulk soil does not mean biologically empty soil, nor does it guarantee a history completely free of roots. It names the reference selected for the stated question. For a useful comparison with the rhizosphere, report the sampling rule and measured quantity as well as the label.

Ancestors (4)

  1. Soil
  2. Ecology
  3. Biology
  4. Home

Incoming links (3)

View article source

Discussion (0) New discussion

There are no discussions about this article yet.

Articles by others on the same topic (0)

There are currently no matching articles.
See all articles in the same topic Create my own version