Spatio - Temporal Assessment of Soil Microbial Biomass Carbon Around Industrial Area of Kano Metropolis, Nigeria

The soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC) acts as the transformation agent of the organic matter in soil as such the microbial biomass carbon is both a source and sink of some soil nutrients C, N, P, and S contained in the organic matter. The study is aimed at assessing the seasonal variation of soil microbial biomass carbon in contaminated soil. Ten soil samples were collected in contaminated and control locations, the samples were collected using composite sampling techniques in both wet and dry season and then analyzed in the laboratory for microbial biomass carbon using fumigation-extraction methods and pH using pH meter. The results of the analysis were subjected to statistical analyses using SPSS software and Microsoft Excel to undertake a T-test of means and ANOVA at 95% confident limit. The spatial distribution of microbial biomass carbon shows that contaminated locations have the highest mean values of microbial biomass carbon with 0.19 g C/kg and 0.29 gC/kg for Sharada and Bompai contaminated locations, while their control locations recorded low mean values of MBC (0.15 g C/kg and 0.17 g C/kg respectively). The temporal variation of MBC was observed where, high mean values were obtained in wet season which is due to the favorable condition for microbial population growth and activities due to rainfall, temperature and rapid mineralization rate in the wet season.