Combined manometric and radioactive techniques were used to determine oxygen uptake and C 14 O 2 evolution during the oxidation of C 14 -acetate in soil. It was found that a large percentage of C 14 O 2 is remained in the soil causing anomalous respiratory quotients during the first hours of respiration. Acidification of the soil to pH 5.0 released this residual C 14 O 2 with the result that the total C 14 O 2 collected after the acid treatment compared favorably with the corresponding oxygen uptake. Recovery of C 14 O 2 during the 6 hour exposure of soil to C 14 -acetate indicated that only 30% of the substrate was completely oxidized. The remainder of the acetate is assimilated into microbial tissue to be deposited eventually in the soil organic fraction.
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Stevenson et al. (1964) studied this question.
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