Wood preservatives vs. fungal and bacterial community

Copper-based fungicides are routinely used for both wood and plant protection, which finally leads to an enrichment of copper tolerant microbial communities in copper-enriched soil environments. To investigate the effect of wood preservatives on fungal and bacterial community composition, five different vineyard and fruit-growing soil environments were evaluated in accelerated soil incubation studies over time. 360 samples (five soil sampling sites x four incubation times x four preservative treatments x four replicates, and 40 controls) were investigated. Wooden specimens were impregnated with water or different biocides (CuTriQAC=containing copper, triazoles and quaternary ammonium compounds; TriQAC=containing triazoles and quaternary ammonium compounds; and Cu=containing copper) and incubated in respective soil environments over 8, 16, 24 and 32 weeks.