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A general introduction of the bait-lamina test has been made in this article. This article has an introductional character for other articles dealing with the bait-lamina test method and demonstrates the experimental data.
The test was first introduced by TÖRNE in 1990 to measure the biological activity of soil. It enables the monitoring of biotic (microbial and zootic) processes in the soil within a short period of time, and other detailed investigations. The test system is based on the visual assessment of feeding on small portions of thin laminated bait substrate exposed to edaphic processes. The test system has found its application primarily in Germany, but in the meanwhile also in Portugal, Switzerland and in the laboratories of soil ecology and soil ecotoxicology in the Netherlands. At the present there are only few publications in the international literature, but the interest in this method is growing. During the past years two workshops on the subject have been organized in Germany to summarize experiences with and to evaluate the test system and optimize the standard procedure.