Fine scale spatial variability of microbial pesticide degradation in soil: scales, controlling factors, and implications.

ABSTRACT: Pesticide biodegradation is a soil microbial function of critical importance for modern agriculture and its environmental impact. While it was once assumed that this activity was homogeneously distributed at the field scale, mounting evidence indicates that this is rarely the case. Here, we critically examine the literature on spatial variability of pesticide biodegradation in agricultural soil. We discuss the motivations, methods, and main findings of the primary literature. We found significant diversity in the approaches used to describe and quantify spatial heterogeneity, which complicates inter-studies comparisons. However, it is clear that the presence and activity of pesticide degraders is often highly spatially variable with coefficients of variation often exceeding 50% and frequen

SUBMITTER: Dechesne A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4257087 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature