Comparative Study of Physical Factors and Microbial Diversity of Four Man-Made Extreme Ecosystems

Ten soil samples were collected from four man-made extreme ecosystems, located adjacent to each other, at Ban Laem district, Phetchaburi province, Thailand. The area is used for sea salt extraction produced in artificial solar salterns. Soil analysis was performed which revealed the extreme conditions in terms of salinity, moisture content, organic matter and nitrogen content. Selective medium was provided for the isolation of microorganisms. Bacteria were found to be the most dominating group of microorganisms followed by fungi, actinomycetes and algae. Morphological and biochemical identification were performed to determine the genus of each microorganism. An actinomycete genus: Streptomyces, an algal genus: Dunaliella, three bacterial genera: Halobacillus, Halobacterium and Halomonas, and a fungal genus: Aspergillus, were the most frequently found microbes in these extreme man-made ecosystems. Interesting inter and intra relationships were observed between physical factors and microbial diversity. Except pH and salinity all physical factors were found to have positive correlation effect on microbial numbers. Actinomycetes was found to favor the fungal populations in man-made extreme ecosystems.