Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2006KY64B

Evaluating Denitrifier Stratification in Fragipan Soils

Institute: Kentucky
Year Established: 2006 Start Date: 2006-03-01 End Date: 2007-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $4,350 Total Non-Federal Funds: $8,711

Principal Investigators: Mark Coyne

Project Summary: This project will study denitrifier stratification above fragipans and determine the effect of surface soil management on the potential for nitrate removal in perched water by denitrifiers. It is an evaluation of microbial population ecology as influenced by soil management. The study is unique because it addresses denitrification in subsurface environments near enough to the soil surface to be influenced by management. The work will provide background cultural and physiological data on the denitrifier populations that can later be used to interpret the results of molecular ecology studies of the denitrifiers at these sites. More immediately, it can provide guidance for site specific management of fragipan soils that may have the propensity to receive leached nitrate during cropping and non cropping seasons.