Effect of ‘Peatland-Use’ Type on Culturable Microbial Groups in Irish Peatlands in the Midlands

Gouri Atapattu, Samuel Apori Obeng, Tara Battersby, Michelle Giltrap and Furong Tian ()
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Gouri Atapattu: School of Food Science & Environmental Health, City Campus, Technological University Dublin, Grangegorman, D07 ADY7 Dublin, Ireland
Samuel Apori Obeng: School of Food Science & Environmental Health, City Campus, Technological University Dublin, Grangegorman, D07 ADY7 Dublin, Ireland
Tara Battersby: Environmental Sustainability & Health Institute, City Campus, Technological University Dublin, Grangegorman, D07 ADY7 Dublin, Ireland
Michelle Giltrap: School of Food Science & Environmental Health, City Campus, Technological University Dublin, Grangegorman, D07 ADY7 Dublin, Ireland
Furong Tian: School of Food Science & Environmental Health, City Campus, Technological University Dublin, Grangegorman, D07 ADY7 Dublin, Ireland

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 8, 1-16

Abstract: Soil microbial ecology in the Irish wetlands is still poorly understood, although it is crucial in introducing effective rewetting schemes to restore and conserve the Irish peatlands. As an initiative, peatlands with distinct land-use types (cutaway, raised semi-degraded, unimproved grassland and grassland) were collected from farms in the midlands to analyse various microbial populations. Peat was homogenized and serially diluted to culture on a range of specific and non-specific culture media. Culture isolation and microbial enumeration were performed. Gram staining and other microscopic observations of morphologically distinct microorganisms were performed, followed by isolation procedures. The numbers of total viable bacteria of cutaway bog and unimproved grassland were 4.23 × 10 3 CFU g −1 and 9.81 × 10 7 CFU g −1 , respectively, with a significant statistical difference ( p ≤ 0.05). Raised semi-degraded bogs comprised low values of both aerobes and fungal populations. Penicillium spp. and Trichoderma spp. were common in many vegetation types. Phosphate-solubilizing bacteria were present in the majority of the study sites. This indicated that the soluble form of phosphorus was being assimilated by plants. Cutaway peat contained the bacteria with the highest phosphate-solubilizing index (3.167). Overall, the number of culturable microbial groups in cutaway and raised semi-degraded peatlands exhibited significant differences, while the rest did not show drastic changes according to land-use type. This study provides baseline data to continue studies on bog microbiology, which provides a new outlook for restoration. Future work should consider microbial interaction with environmental variables in different land-use types.

Keywords: aerobes; fungi; anaerobes; phosphate solubilization; raised bog; grassland (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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