ELFA were analyzed by direct transesterification of soil in dilute alkaline methanol as previously described (Buyer et al., 2002) with the following modifications. 19:0 phosphatidylcholine (Avanti Polar Lipids, Alabaster, AL) was added as an internal standard with the KOH–methanol reagent, and the fatty acid methyl esters were dissolved in 0.5 ml of hexane for analysis by GC.