Microbial biomass plays an important role in phosphorus cycling in tropical and subtropical soils. The purpose of this research is to quantify the content of phosphorus stored in the microbial biomass in soils under different tillage and cropping systems. Four long term experiments were then used, involving no-tillage and conventional tillage and different crop rotations, installed in different soils (Heavy clay Rhodic Hapludox, Clay Rhodic Hapludox and fine-loamy Rhodic Paleudult) in the state of Rio Grande do Sul - Brazil. In 1997, soil samples were collected in both soil tillage systems and different cropping systems in three soil layers. The content of phosphorus stored in the biomass was determined by the fumigation-extraction method. The use of the no-tillage system did not affect the biomass phosphorus content in the Heavy clay Rhodic Hapludox soil, but increased in the Clay Rhodic Hapludox and fine-loamy Rhodic Paleudult soils, as compared to the conventional tillage. Cropping of different annual plants did not affect the microbial phosphorus content. The flux of P through the microbial biomass ranged from 8 to 22 mg dm-3 year-1, and was higher in the no-tillage than in the conventional tillage in the Rhodic Paleudult.
soil management; biomass phosphorus; phosphorus cycling