ALGAL COMMUNITIES AND SOIL MICROENVIRONMENTS IN AN EASTERN WASHINGTON SILT LOAM

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Abstract
Thirteen genera belonging to 3 divisions of algae [Cyanophyte, Chlorophyta, Bacillariophyta] were isolated from 4 microenvironments within an eastern Washington [USA] silt loam supporting a stand of Pinus ponderosa. The microenvironments were defined on the basis of spatial relation to the canopy of a pine, pH, electrical conductivity, cation capacity, percent base saturation, percent organic matter and total N. Numbers of algae, bacteria and fungi, as well as soil moisture and temperature, water extractable K+, Na+, Ca2+ and Mg2+, and available P were quantified on 3 dates in 1976. Microbial numbers were evaluated in light of soil properties, and generic diversity of algae was compared with that recorded for soils supporting other species of Pinus.