Abstract
The effect of pH on the activity of nitrifying organisms was examined in pasture soils ranging in pH from 4.9 to 7.3, using a short-term nitrification assay (SNA). The optimum pH for nitrifier activity (pHopt) was generally close to the soil pH, suggesting that the indigenous nitrifier populations adjusted to the prevailing soil pH. A consequence was that the SNA at the soil pH (SNApH) bore a near 1:1 relationship with the SNA at the pHopt (SNAopt) over a wide range of SNA values. The effect of soil moisture tension on the SNA was less pronounced than that of pH, but an optimum occurred around pF 3.4.
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Bramley, R.G.V., White, R.E. The variability of nitrifying activity in field soils. Plant Soil 126, 203–208 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00012823
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00012823