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Abstract
The degradation of selected petroleum hydrocarbons in the rhizosphere of alfalfa was investigated in a greenhouse experiment. Petroleum contaminated and uncontaminated soils were spiked with 100 ppm of polynuclear aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons. Unspiked, uncontaminated soil was used as a control. Microbial counts for soils with and without plants for each soil treatment were performed 4, 8, 16, and 24 weeks after planting. Microbial numbers were substantially greater in soil with plants when compared to soil containing no plants, indicating that plant roots enhanced microbial populations in contaminated soil. Soil treatments had no effect on microbial numbers in the presence of plants.
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