Fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis, respiration and microbial biomass in freshly amended soils

Abstract The hydrolysis of the fluorescein diacetate (FDA), related to several soil hydrolases, has been utilised to estimate the potential microbial activity of soil freshly amended with a wide range of organic amendments and compared to the size and activity of soil microflora, measured by the microbial biomass C (BC) and CO2 evolution, respectively. Three different composting mixtures at different phases of the composting process were added to a semi-arid soil and incubated for 2 months under laboratory conditions. The addition of the organic amendment immediately increased BC and both measures of microbial activity (FDA and CO2 evolution). Highly significant correlations were found between FDA hydrolysis and BC for soil amended with the three composting mixtures (r=0.81–0.96; P<0.01), regardless of the origin, composition and degree of stability of the organic amendments. FDA hydrolysis, conversely to CO2 evolution, was unaffected by the disturbance caused by the soil amendment, indicating that the two parameters probably reflect