Table XXXVI. Microbiology of Barrow and Prudhoe Bay. 



Barrow samples 



Prudhoe bay samples 



Controls sample no. Plot no. 



Samples designation 



206 



207 



208 



Control 



Reveg 



Oiled 

 Reveg 



Total no. ol species 



81 



[21 Shared species] 



51 



No. Fungal propagules/g soil 



Litter 

 Soil 



No. Species 



Litter 

 Soil 



No. Shared species between 

 litter and soil levels 



No. Yeasts/g soil 



Fungal biomass % dry soil 



Fungi as % organic matter 



Bacterial biomass lb/in. acre 



11,000 



29 



600-800 



22 



190,000 



20 



8 6 4 



All around 140-150,000/g 



1.6 .7 1.0 



5.3 2.0 3.0 



9.0 18.0 72.0 



5 Shared species 



10,000 6,000 200,000 



0.8 0.25 2.7 



4.0 1.25 11.0 



19.6 88.0 41.4 



*Probably the most reliable figures since tundra is so varied and these samples were from just one area. 



Prudhoe Bay control areas were quite different from the Barrow control areas. Eighty-one species 

 of microfungi were isolated from Barrow soils. Only 51 were recovered from Prudhoe Bay soils. 

 The two areas shared only 21 species out of a total of 132 species. Yeast biomass at Barrow was 

 15 times greater than that found at Prudhoe Bay except that the oiled area at Prudhoe Bay had a 

 higher yeast biomass than any other site investigated: 200,000 yeast cells/g soil. 



In comparison, the revegetation area not oiled had a mere 6000 cells/g soil. The same phenom- 

 enon was seem for the filamentous fungi. On the oiled area there was a much greater fungal biomass 

 and number of propogules (spores and hyphae) than in the cxintrol or non-oiled revegetation zones. 

 This suggests that oiling the disturbed soil greatly increased fungal and yeast populations at least 

 at the biomass level. The variety of fungal species in the oiled area had decreased. In fact, one 

 specimen of fungus accounted for 66% of the fungi isolated. In the control area this fungus only 

 occurred with 16% frequency and in the revegetated area not oiled it occurred hardly at all. 



95 



