@article{fdi:010053645,
  title = {{A} new protocol for an artificial soil to analyse soil microbiological processes},
  author = {{G}uenet, {B}. and {L}eloup, {J}. and {H}artmann, {C}hristian and {B}arot, {S}{\'e}bastien and {A}bbadie, {L}uc},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{S}oils are highly complex environments characterized by a huge diversity of organisms (especially microorganisms) and chemical compounds and by complex physical structure. {B}ecause of this complexity, it is often difficult to manipulate independently the microbial community, the organic matter, the clay types, etc., and to disentangle the various processes involved in soil functioning. {I}n this paper, we propose the use of artificial soils as a simplified and adjustable tool to disentangle soil processes and test ecological theories on microbial communities. {T}o create an artificial soil, a protocol was designed based on commercially available clays, sand, calcium carbonates and humic acids. {S}pecial attention was paid to aggregates and structure formation using differential sieving. {M}any aspects of our artificial soil can be adjusted as needed by altering mineral nutrient or humic acid concentrations, addition of other organic molecules, varying the quality of clays, etc. {T}he advantage of an artificial soil is that chemical and biological diversity as compared with real soils can be reduced so that the effects of manipulations (adding an organism or a molecule, changing temperature, etc.) are not confounded by uncontrolled interactions. {T}o test the capability of this artificial soil to support microbial growth and dynamics, six bacterial strains were independently inoculated and monitored for 19 days. {E}ach strain was able to grow and mineralize the available organic matter. {T}his artificial soil could thus be a good tool for studying different aspects of soil functioning.},
  keywords = {{A}rtificial soil ; {S}oil ecology ; {E}xperimental tool ; {S}oil structure ; {B}acterial growth ; {C}arbon mineralization},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{A}pplied {S}oil {E}cology},
  volume = {48},
  numero = {2},
  pages = {243--246},
  ISSN = {0929-1393},
  year = {2011},
  DOI = {10.1016/j.apsoil.2011.04.002},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010053645},
}