Duration of effects of chemicals on soil microbial community structure.

Representative pattern (exemplified by the solvent control treatment) for observed clustering of T-RFLP fingerprints of soil microbial communities at day 0, 1, 7, 14, 28, and 70 after addition of chemicals, shown for fungi (left panel) and bacteria (right panel). Small distance between start (0) and end (70) of the incubation period indicates only minor differences in T-RFLP fingerprints, and imply transient effects of the chemicals.