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Soil and plant nitrogen pools in paddy and upland ecosystems have contrasting δ15N

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Abstract

Waterlogged paddy and water-unsaturated upland ecosystems have contrasting soil nitrogen (N) processes that affect the natural 15N abundance (15N/14N, expressed as δ15N) in different N pools. In this study, we investigated the δ15N patterns in soil and plant N pools of paddy and upland ecosystems. Samples were collected from 20 each of paddy and upland fields at the active growing season and analyzed for N concentration and δ15N. The higher (P < 0.001) concentration (22.1 mg N kg−1) and lower δ15N (6.9 ‰) of NH4 + in paddy than in upland soils (6.1 mg N kg−1 and 9.2 ‰, respectively) likely reflected the lower nitrification potential in paddy soils. On the other hand, a higher (P < 0.001) δ15N of NO3 − in paddy (12.7 ‰) than in upland soils (4.7 ‰) indicated higher denitrification rates in paddy soils. The positive (P < 0.01) correlation of the δ15N of soil organic N with the δ15N of NH4 + rather than with that of NO3 − suggested a tight linkage between organic N and NH4 + as a result of immobilization-mineralization turnover of NH4 +. Therefore, in waterlogged paddy soils where nitrification was restricted, a high rate of microbial immobilization-mineralization turnover might lead to a lower δ15N of soil N (total N, organic N, and NH4 +) than those for upland. The δ15N in plant N pools also reflected the dominant mineral N species in paddy (NH4 +) and upland soils (NO3 −). We conclude that contrasting soil N processes (particularly nitrification) leave distinct δ15N signatures in the soil and plant N pools between paddy and upland fields.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by the Yeongsan and Sumjin River Watershed Management Committee, Ministry of Environment, and by the Ag-BMPs Development Project for Water Quality Improvement in Saemangeum Estuarine Reservoir funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Republic of Korea.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rural and Biosystems Engineering, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 500-757, Republic of Korea

    Sang-Sun Lim, Kwang-Seung Lee, Kwang-Sik Yoon & Woo-Jung Choi

  2. Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E3, Canada

    Jin-Hyeob Kwak & Scott X. Chang

  3. Department of Applied Plant Science, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 500-757, Republic of Korea

    Han-Yong Kim

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  1. Sang-Sun Lim
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Correspondence to Scott X. Chang or Woo-Jung Choi.

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Lim, SS., Kwak, JH., Lee, KS. et al. Soil and plant nitrogen pools in paddy and upland ecosystems have contrasting δ15N. Biol Fertil Soils 51, 231–239 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-014-0967-y

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