Abstract:Tritiated thymidine incorporation method plays an important role in determination of bacterial growth rate, due to its clear principle, simple operation and good repeatability. However, there has been little research on soil ecology using tritiated thymidine incorporation method for determination of bacterial growth rate compared with medical science and aquatic ecology field. Especially studies on this area in China have been reported hardly. The principle, operation procedure, influential factor and calculation method of tritiated thymidine incorporation method were introduced, and its applications in soil ecology were summarized. These would provide reference for the further applications of this technology in soil ecology.