Active composts have a high level of microbial activity, and a rapidly changing microbial community. Tracking individual microbe groups or changes in the community requires a technique that is sensitive and independent of incubations, which themselves will allow the community to change.
Phospholipids are present in all living cells.
In microorganisms, the phospholipid makeup varies among species and also within species under differing growing conditions. Phospholipids were extracted from compost samples at initial, middle, and final stages of compost development. In these compost piles, total bacteria declined over time, although thermophilic organisms increased. Limitations of this and related techniques are discussed. Another method of analyzing a microbial community is by testing its ability to utilize specific compounds as sources of carbon.