Effects of Repeated Applications of Chlorimuron-Ethyl on the Soil Microbial Biomass, Activity and Microbial Community in the Greenhouse

The impacts of repeated chlorimuron-ethyl applications on soil microbial community structure and function were studied under greenhouse conditions. Chlorimuron-ethyl was applied to soil samples at three different doses [1-,10-,100-fold of recommended field rate (T1, T10, T100)] for 3 years. The half-lives of chlorimuron-ethyl were 37.1–54.6 days. The soil microbial biomass (microbial biomass carbon and total phospholipid fatty acid), the microbial activity (basal respiration and average well color development), the ratio of Gram-negative/Gram-positive bacteria and Shannon index were stimulated by chlorimuron-ethyl during the initial period. Except for T100, the other treatments recovered to the untreated level. The ratio of fungi/bacteria decreased during the initial period and then recovered in the end. Principal component analysis of phospholipid fatty acid showed that chlorimuron-ethyl altered the microbial community structure. Except got T100, T1 and T10 were not different from the control at the end of experiment. These results suggested a dosage effect of chlorimuron-ethyl on the living microbial biomass and the microbial community.