Root-growth Inhibition of the Holorganic Layer of Moder Humus Under Spruce (picae-abies Karst) and Beech (fagus-silvatica L) .2. Biological Test and Organic-analysis of the Soil Solution

A test of root growth inhibition of spruce and beech roots, according to Lynch's procedure (1977), shows the inhibitory effects of soil solution extracted from the holorganic layers (Of2-Oh) under beech and spruce. Molecular gel filtration of soil solutions shows that the molecular weights vary over a wide range, from less than 100 to over 40,000 daltons. Chemical analysis, using CGC, HPLC and sometimes MS shows only negligible concentrations of simple aliphatic (C1-C5) and aromatic acids in the free state. Using the fraction scheme of Forsyth (1977) and the carbazole procedure, it is shown that uronic acids represent only a small percentage of the carboxylic acids, and have no inhibitory effects on root growth. By analogy with results of other authors, the presence of polycarboxylic acids in the soil solution are considered to be the main cause of root growth inhibition