MICROBIAL MINERALIZATION OF ATRAZINE AND 2,4-DICHLOROPHENOXYACETIC ACID IN RIPARIAN PASTURE AND FOREST SOILS

Microbial biomass and mineralization of atrazine [2-chloro-4(ethylamino)-6(isopropylamino)s-triazine] and 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorphenoxyacetic acid) were examined in the top 10 cm of riparian pasture soils and in the litter layer and top 10 cm of mineral soils of riparian forest ecosystems. The riparian forest litter had higher levels of active and total fungal biomass than forest or pasture mineral soils in winter, spring, and fall. Active bacterial biomass was higher in forest litter than in forest and pasture mineral soils in spring and autumn, and higher in forest mineral soils than in pasture soils in summer. Total bacterial biomass was higher in forest mineral soils than in pasture soils during all seasons. In spring, it was also higher in forest litter than in pasture soils. Atrazie and 2,4-D mineralization in pasture soils was exceeded by that in forest litter in spring and autumn and by that in forest mineral soils in summer and autumn. There was no correlation between either active or total fungal and bacterial biomass with pesticide degradation.