Correlations between Soil Microbe and Soil Chemical Properties in Limestone Mining Area: Case Study at Southern Jember Indonesia

Abstract

An investigation at the Southern limestone mountainous area of Jember-East Java Indonesia, was performed to study the importance of soil chemical properties, population of total bacteria and fungi in the rhizosphere of some essential species. The objectives of the research were: (a) to compare the condition between exploited limestone mining area and unexploited area on population of rhizosphere of some plant species soil microbe and some soil chemical properties, and (b) to identify the correlation between soil microbial population and some soil chemical properties. The research was conducted by two steps, namely exploitation in the field and laboratory analysis. Soil samples were taken under the specified dominant plants at four locations of the limestone mountain. The four locations representing the high (>84 m ASL), middle (52 – 78m ASL), and low (< 34m ASL) sites of the mountain topography and one location of rehabilitation area (< 25m ASL). The west site was indicating the exploited limestone mining area, whereas the east site was the unexploited area. It was found that Jatropha gossypifolia L, Calotropis gigantea, and Randia sp, are the dominant species plants at the two sites. Soil samples of plants rhizosphere were analyzed for total bacteria, total fungi, soil pH, organic carbon content, total nitrogen, and concentration of Pavailable.

The results of this study revealed that the population of total bacteria ranged between 3.70 to 48.23 cfu (x10 4 g dry soil), whereas total fungi ranged between 3.13 to 33.06 cfu (x10 dry soil). The correlation between total bacteria and organic carbon and total nitrogen were positively correlated, with r = 0.73 and 0.60, respectively. On the contrary, there were no correlations between total fungi with all chemical properties.