Abstract
Organic N solubilized by NH3(aq) was extracted from 15N-labelled or unlabelled soil, concentrated and added to non-extracted soil, which was incubated under aerobic conditions at 27±1°C. Gross N mineralization, gross N immobilization, and nitrification in soils with or without addition of unlabelled soluble organic N were estimated by models based on the dilution of the NH +4 or NO sup-inf3 pools, which were labelled with 15N at the beginning of incubation. Mineralization of labelled organic N was measured by the appearance of label in the mineral N pool. Although gross N mineralization and gross N immobilization were increased in two soils between day 0 and day 7 following addition of unlabelled organic N solubilized by NH3(aq), there was no increase in net N mineralization. Solubilization of 15N-labelled organic N increased and the 15N enrichment of the soluble organic N decereased as the concentration of NH3(aq) added increased. A constant proportion of approximately one-quarter of the labelled organic N added at different rates to non-extracted soil was recovered in the mineral N pool after an incubation period of 14 days, and the availability ratios calculated from net N mineralization data were 1.1:1 and 2.1:1 for 111 and 186 mg added organic-N kg-1 soil, respectively, indicating that the mineralization of organic N was increased by solubilization.
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Sen, S., Chalk, P.M. Mineralization of soil organic nitrogen solubilized by aqua ammonia fertilizer. Biol Fertil Soils 23, 93–98 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00335824
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00335824