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Effect of bamboo harvest on dynamics of nutrient pools, N mineralization, and microbial biomass in soil

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Abstract

The effect of harvesting bamboo savanna on the dynamics of soil nutrient pools, N mineralization, and microbial biomass was examined. In the unharvested bamboo site NO sup-inf3 -N in soil ranged from 0.37 to 3.11 mg kg-1 soil and in the harvested site from 0.43 to 3.67 mg kg-1. NaHCO3-extractable inorganic P ranged from 0.55 to 3.58 mg kg-1 in the unharvested site and from 1.01 to 4.22 mg kg-1 in the harvested site. Over two annual cycles, the N mineralization range in the unharvested and harvested sites was 0–19.28 and 0–24.0 mg kg-1 soil month-1, respectively. The microbial C, N, and P ranges were 278–587, 28–64, and 12–26 mg kg-1 soil, respectively, with the harvested site exhibiting higher values. Bamboo harvesting depleted soil organic C by 13% and total N by 20%. Harvesting increased N mineralization, resulting in 10 kg ha-1 additional mineral N in the first 1st year and 5 kg ha-1 in the 2nd year following the harvest. Microbial biomass C, N and P increased respectively by 10, 18, and 5% as a result of bamboo harvesting.

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  1. Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, 221005, Varanasi, India

    A. S. Raghubanshi

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Raghubanshi, A.S. Effect of bamboo harvest on dynamics of nutrient pools, N mineralization, and microbial biomass in soil. Biol Fert Soils 18, 137–142 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00336460

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