Chemical Exploration of the Microhabitat by Electron Probe Microanalysis of Decomposer Organisms

Abstract

INCREASING emphasis on the role of microorganisms as nutrient concentrators in ecosystems calls for the accurate, reliable chemical analysis of these cells within their microhabitats. The inability to perform such analyses has been a principal limitation of existing macrochemical techniques. Witkamp¹, Stark², and Todd and Cromack³ have demonstrated that terrestrial microflora can concentrate calcium, potassium and magnesium to a point that each becomes a major nutrient pool. Microarthropods—important grazers of microflora—link the terrestrial detritus-based food chain to other chains. This paper outlines a technique which enables the chemical composition of the microfloral and faunal biomass to be analysed without its destruction or separation from the detrital matrix. With the exception of laboratory bacterial cultures, all samples were collected from the US Forest Service Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory field site, North Carolina.