Department of Biology, Institute of Zoology, Joh. Gutenberg University, D-55099, Mainz, Germany.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 1999;6(4):220-4. doi: 10.1007/BF02987332.
The Minicontainer-test, first described by Eisenbeis (1993), was designed to study the kinetics of organic residue decomposition at a microsite level. It is derived from the litterbag technique and consists of polyethylene minicontainers (volume about 1.5 cm(3)) filled with a test substrate (litter, straw, cellulose, etc.). The minicontainers (MCs) are closed at either end with plastic gauze discs of variable mesh size (e.g. 20 microm, 250 microm, 500 microm or 2 mm). A definite number of such units are inserted into PVC-bars, which can be implanted into the soil horizontally or vertically, or be exposed on the soil surface horizontally. The bars are very stable and can be exposed in different environments for months to years. If required, the bars can be removed temporarily and stored, e.g. during soil cultivation. Should fresh litter be used, two phases of decomposition can be distinguished: a fast initial phase, which can be mainly related to the effect of leaching, and a second slow phase depending mainly on the activity of soil organisms and litter quality. Several questions can be addressed to investigations using MCs, e.g. 1) parts of the soil fauna which are involved in decomposition (nematodes, microarthropods, and smaller specimens of the macrofauna, e.g. enchytraeidae, diplopods and dipteran larvae) can be extracted from the litter substrate using a miniscale high gradient extractor, 2) the organic mass loss of litter can be determined, 3) microbial biomass (C(mic), N(mic)) can be assessed by fumigation extraction and 4) microbial activity (respiration) in the test substrate can also be assessed by use of standardised methods. Compared to litterbag studies, the larger number of small replicate units improves the statistical evaluation. Until today the Minicontainer-test has been applied in forestry and agriculture, e.g. studying the effects of liming, soil restoration and the application of insecticides, e.g. Diflubenzuron (Dimilin) and Btk (Bacillus thuringiensis var.kurstaki).
迷你容器测试最早由 Eisenbeis（1993 年）描述，旨在研究微生境水平有机残留分解的动力学。它源自垃圾袋技术，由充满测试底物（落叶、秸秆、纤维素等）的聚乙烯迷你容器（体积约 1.5 立方厘米）组成。迷你容器（MC）的两端用不同网眼尺寸的塑料纱布圆盘封闭（例如 20 微米、250 微米、500 微米或 2 毫米）。将一定数量的这种单元插入 PVC 棒中，可以将其水平或垂直植入土壤中，也可以水平暴露在土壤表面上。这些棒非常稳定，可以在不同的环境中暴露数月至数年。如果需要，棒可以临时移除并储存，例如在土壤耕作期间。如果使用新鲜落叶，可以区分分解的两个阶段：快速初始阶段，主要与淋溶效应有关，以及第二个缓慢阶段，主要取决于土壤生物的活性和落叶质量。使用 MC 可以进行多项研究，例如 1）参与分解的土壤动物的部分（线虫、微型节肢动物以及较大的大型动物，例如线蚓科、倍足纲和双翅目幼虫）可以使用微型高梯度提取器从落叶基质中提取，2）可以确定落叶的有机质量损失，3）可以通过熏蒸提取评估微生物生物量（C（mic）、N（mic）），4）还可以使用标准方法评估测试基质中的微生物活性（呼吸）。与垃圾袋研究相比，更多的小重复单元提高了统计评估。到目前为止，迷你容器测试已应用于林业和农业，例如研究石灰处理、土壤恢复和杀虫剂（例如 Diflubenzuron（Dimilin）和 Btk（苏云金芽孢杆菌 var.kurstaki））的应用效果。
