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Differentiating between the supply of N to wheat from above and belowground residues of preceding crops of pea and canola

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Abstract

Belowground N comprises an important component of total residue N, but the N from this pool is often not included in studies that use 15N approaches to trace residue-derived N in succeeding crops. The objective of this greenhouse study was to differentiate between N supplied from aboveground and belowground crop residues, including rhizodeposits, of pea and canola to wheat using 15N labeling. A cross 15N-labeling approach was used in which wheat was grown on 15N-labeled belowground residues and non-labeled aboveground residues and vice versa. On average, the amount of N in wheat derived from belowground residues was almost twice the amount from aboveground residues. The higher input of both aboveground and belowground residue biomass and hence residue N from canola compared to pea tended to increase the residue-derived N in wheat from canola (6.4 %) relative to pea (4.7 %). However, differences in the percent recovery of 15N based on the amount of residue-15N initially applied revealed that a higher proportion of belowground residue N from pea (13.4 %) was recovered in wheat compared to the corresponding aboveground residue N from pea (8.8 %), and both belowground and aboveground residue N from canola (6.5 and 7.3 %, respectively). The total supply of N to wheat from preceding pea and canola crops was relatively low, likely due to wide C/N ratios. This study demonstrates the importance of belowground residue N to the supply of N to succeeding crops as well as differences between species.

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Abbreviations

AG:

Aboveground

BG:

Belowground

%Ndfr:

Percentage nitrogen derived from residues

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Acknowledgments

Financial support was provided by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture Strategic Research Program—Soil Biological Processes, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. We are grateful to M. Stocki for the stable isotope analysis and to A. Krikau and J. Hnatowich for technical assistance.

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  1. Department of Soil Science, University of Saskatchewan, 51 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, S7N 5A8

    Melissa M. Arcand, J. Diane Knight & Richard E. Farrell

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  1. Melissa M. Arcand
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  2. J. Diane Knight
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  3. Richard E. Farrell
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Correspondence to J. Diane Knight.

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Arcand, M.M., Knight, J.D. & Farrell, R.E. Differentiating between the supply of N to wheat from above and belowground residues of preceding crops of pea and canola. Biol Fertil Soils 50, 563–570 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-013-0877-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-013-0877-4

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