Summary
Fresh leguminous plant residues were incorporated into soil columns and incubated at 23°C for up to 20 weeks. The N released from specific fractions (foliage, stems, and roots) of each residue were monitored at specific time intervals. Relationships between organic carbon, total nitrogen, C∶N ratio, lipids, and lignin content of the plant materials and the cumulative amount of N mineralized in soil were investigated. Statistical analyses indicated that the rates of N mineralized were not significantly correlated with the organic C nor lipid content of the residues. However, the cumulative amount of N released was significantly correlated with the total N content of the plant material (r=0.93***). The percentage of organic N of the legumes mineralized in soil ranged from 15.9 to 76.0%. The relationship between the percentage of N released and the C∶N ratio of the plant material showed an inverse cuvilinear response (r= 0.88***). It was also evident that the composition of lignin in the residue influenced N mine-ralization rates of the leguminous organs incorporated into soil.
There was a curvilinear relationship between the cumulative amount of N released from the residues and time of incubation. Nitrogen mineralization rates were described by first-order kinetics to estimate the N mineralization potential (N0), mineralization rate constant (k), and the time of incubation required to mineralize one-half of N0 (t1/2). The kinetic parameters were calculated by both the linear least squares (LLS) and nonlinear least squares (NLLS) transformations. The N0 values among the crop residues varied from −35 to 510 μg Ng−1 soil. Statistical analyses revealed that the N0 values obtained by both LLS and NLLS methods were significantly correlated (r=0.93***). The mineralization rate constants (k) of the residues ranged from 0.045 to 0.325 week−1. The time of incubation required to mineralize one-half the nitrogen mineralization potential (t1/2) of the legumes incorporated into soil ranged from 2.1 to 15.4 weeks.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abdelmagid H M 1980 Factors Affecting Nitrogen Mineralization and Nitrate Reductions in Soils. Ph.D. thesis, Iowa State University Library, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA.
Addiscott T A 1983 Kinetics and temperature relationships of mineralization and nitrification in Rothamsted soils with differing histories. J. Soil Sci. 34, 343–353.
Agboola A A 1975 Problems of improving soil fertility by the use of green manuring in the tropical farming system. FAO Soils Bulletin 27, 147–163.
Black C A 1968 Soil-plant relationship 2nd ed. pp. 405–557. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York.
Burhan H O and Mansi M G 1967 Rotation response to cotton in the Sudan Gezira. I. The effect of crop rotation on cotton yields. J. Agric. Sci. Camb. 68, 255–261.
Burington R S 1973 Handbook of Mathematical Tables and Formulas. pp 186–187. McGraw-Hill, New York.
Burnett C A 1975 The agricultural use of organic material in Brazil. FAO Soils Bulletin 27, 305–311.
Egawa T 1975 The use of organic fertilizers in Japan. FAO Soils Bulletin 27, 253–270.
Enwezor W O 1976 The mineralization of nitrogen and phosphorus in organic materials of varying C∶N and C∶P ratios. Plant and Soil 44, 237–240.
FAO/UNOP study tour to Peoples Republic of China 1977: Recycling of organic wastes in agriculture. FAO Soils Bulletin 40, 1–88.
Frankenberger W T Jr and Johanson J B 1982 L-Histidine ammonia-lyase activity in soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 46, 943–948.
Haque I and Walmsley D 1972 Incubation studies on mineralization of organic sulphur and organic nitrogen. Plant and Soil 37, 255–264.
Harmsen G W and Van Schreven D A 1955 Mineralization of organic nitrogen in soil. Adv. Agron. 7, 299–398.
Iritani W M and Arnold C Y 1960 Nitrogen release of vegetable crop residues during incubation as related to their chemical composition. Soil Sci. 89, 74–82.
Joffe J S 1955 Green manuring viewed by a pedologist. Adv. Agron. 7, 141–187.
Kenney D R and Nelson D W 1982 Nitrogen-inorganic forms.In Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 2. 2nd Ed. Eds. A L Page et al. Agronomy 9, 643–698. Am. Soc. of Agron, Madison, Wis.
Musa M M 1975 Nitrogen fixation by some legumes in the Sudan Gezira. FAO Soils Bulletin 27, 179–184.
Nelson D W and Sommers L E 1973 Determination of total nitrogen in plant material. Agron. J. 65, 109–112.
Nelson D W and Sommers L E 1982 Total carbon, organic carbon and organic matter.In Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 2. 2nd ed. Eds. A L Page et al. Agronomy 9, 571–573. Am. Soc. of Agron., Madison, Wis.
Parker C F and Sommers L E 1983 Mineralization of nitrogen in sewage sludges. J. Environ. Qual. 12, 150–156.
Peevy W J and Norman A G 1948 Influences of composition of plant materials on properties of the decomposed residues. Soil Sci. 65, 209–226.
Singh A 1963 A critical evaluation of green-manuring experiments on sugar cane in north India. Empire J. Expt. Agric. 31, 205–212.
Singh A 1975 Use of organic materials and green manuring as fertilizers in developing countries. FAO Soils Bulletin 27, 19–30.
Smith J L, Schnabel R R, McNeal B L and Campbell G S 1980 Potential errors in the first-order model for estimating soil nitrogen mineralization potentials. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 44, 996–1000.
Stanford G and Smith S J 1972 Nitrogen mineralization potentials of soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 36, 465–472.
Tabatabai M A and Al-Khafaji A A 1980 Comparison of nitrogen and sulfur mineralization in soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 44, 1000–1006.
Talpaz H, Fine P and Bar-Yosef B 1981 On estimation of N-mineralization parameters for incubation experiments. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 45, 993–996.
Waksman S A and Hutchings I J 1935 The role of plant constituents in the preservation of nitrogen in the soil. Soil Sci. 40, 487–497.
Waksman S A and Tenney F G 1927 The composition of natural organic materials and their decomposition in the soil: I. Methods of quantitative analysis of plant materials. Soil Sci. 24, 275–283.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Frankenberger, W.T., Abdelmagid, H.M. Kinetic parameters of nitrogen mineralization rates of leguminous crops incorporated into soil. Plant Soil 87, 257–271 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02181865
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02181865