[Terrapreta] Sugar and urine experiments

[Richard Haard]

Sean - note that I have only read a few posts in this thread and this  
may be out of context.

Well yes, I have been thinking about something along this line   
although a little different approach.

The question is how would I determine if a tote of char I just  
dumped, pictured below, on the forest under-story, to be aged for 1  
year or more with natural leaf litter materials is fixing atmospheric  
nitrogen more or less than the adjacent natural soils. ??

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rchaard/469278481/in/set-72157594444994347/

The year 2007 marks the 40th year I have left graduate school and I  
am a bit rusty on this but I do recall in a soil microbiology class  
the professor set up an enrichment culture for nitrifying bacteria  
and we monitored progress with a color test. There is a wealth of  
literature out there and it might be worth while  to first spend time  
reading about the preferred cultural conditions of Azotobacter.

Just did a quick google and came up with this technique for selective  
enrichment of Azotobacter and use of these cultures as a inoculum.

http://www.indiaagronet.com/indiaagronet/Manuers_fertilizers/ 
azotobacter(B).htm

I Do not think I would jump at the project with this information  
alone but they do indicate that Azotobacter is grown on nitrogen free  
nutrient medium, in the case of this example from pure cultures that  
were isolated from soil dilutions on solid ,nitrogen free growing  
medium.

Another article which is a classic (1915), describes growing  
Azotobacter on various simple and complex carbohydrates and their  
rate of nitrate formation on measured amounts of food.

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/pagerender.fcgi? 
artid=1258579&pageindex=1

Back to the heap of charcoal and however Larry and I decide to  
configure it.

The easiest approach would be to figure some way to capture the  
natural rainwater that percolates through the charcoal heap and  
measure the nitrate content. Perhaps with a gardener grade color test  
and compare it to a nearby soil profile without charcoal. Over time  
if the charcoal offers a superior habitat then the relative amount of  
nitrate released from the charcoal heap would be greater or at least  
increase over time.

I am thinking I may indeed try something like this but will mull it  
over for most of the summer.

The definition of recreational science must include that it is fun  
and we should remember to not rush into the work part without first  
enjoying the pleasure of contemplation. This terra preta topic and  
charcoal in agriculture is holding my interest for now but I am  
really wanting to spend time for my retirement years with my first  
love in mycology - aquatic fungi. I remember my professor at  
University of Michigan Biological Station, an old man at the time, Dr  
Fred Sparrow spraying his students with spittle and jumping up and  
down with excitement on finding a new species growing on a pollen  
grain from the lake he had been doing same for his entire career and  
the time my wife Karen was identifying a mushroom for Dr. Alex Smith  
using his research keys for a lab quiz and when she told him it was  
not in the key he went 'harumph' and the specimen disappeared into  
his work pile. Seeking answers to questions is what this is all about.

Rich Haard

On Apr 22, 2007, at 6:54 PM, Sean K. Barry wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> Let's make it an exercise in the "Scientific Method",
>
> Hypothesis: Small amounts of sugar, manure, and urine promote the  
> growth of soil microorganisms, like the ubiquitous "Azotobacter".   
> This, in turn, promotes the growth of plants which need nitrogen,  
> because "Azotobacter" is a "nitrogen fixer" and lots of those  
> "Azotobacter" can fix lots of nitrogen, for those plants to use.

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