Abstract
Release of N, retention in soil, availability to a subsequent crop and total recovery of N derived from different15N-labelled plant materials decomposing in soil was investigated in two field experiments. In the first experiment five different plant species (white clover, red clover, subterranean clover, field bean and timothy) and in the second subterranean clover of different maturity (2,3 and 4 months old) were buried in mesh bags in the soil and allowed to decompose for 10 and 4 months, respectively.
Most of the N released from the decaying plant materials was retained in the soil (27–46% of input). The subsequent crop (barley) took up 6–25% of input. The uptake correlated with the amount of N released from the decomposing material (r=0.936*, I experiment). Similar amounts of subterranean clover N were taken up by barley regardless to whether the material was buried in soil in the previous autumn or just before sowing of the crop. At the end of the experiments, the total recovery of the introduced plant-derived N varied between 89 and 102%. The results present evidence that the ability of the soil to retain plant-derived N is strong in comparison with the ability of the subsequent crop and different loss mechanisms to remove it.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Azam F, Malik K A and Sajjad M I 1985 Transformations in soil and availability to plants of15N applied as inorganic fertilizer and legume residues. Plant and Soil 86, 3–13.
Berg B, Müller M M and Wessen B 1987 Decomposition of red cloverTrifolium pratense) roots. Soil. Biol. Biochem., 19, 389–593.
Jansson S L and Persson J 1982 Mineralization and immobilization of soil nitrogen.In Nitrogen in Agricultural Soils. Ed. F J Stevenson, pp 234–236. Am. Soc. Agron. Madison.
Kumarasinghe K S, Zapata F, Kovacs G, Eskew D L and Danso S K A 1986 Evaluation of the availability ofAzolla-N and urea-N to rice using15N. Plant and Soil 90, 293–299.
Ladd J N, Amato M, Jackson R B and Butler J H A 1983 Utilization by wheat crops of nitrogen from legume residues decomposing in soils in the field. Soil Biol. Biochem. 15, 231–238.
Ladd J N, Oades J M and Amato M 1981 Distribution and recovery of nitrogen from legume residues decomposing in soils sown to wheat in the field. Soil Biol. Biochem. 13, 251–256.
Löhnis F 1926 Nitrogen availability of green manures. Soil Science 22, 253–290.
Müller M M 1987 Leaching of subterranean clover-derived N from a loam soil. Plant and Soil 102, 185–191.
Müller M M, Soininvaara O, Meriläinen A, and Sundman V 1988 Release of nitrogen from agricultural plant materials under field conditions: effect of chemical composition of the material. Biol. Fert. Soils,in press.
Read M D, Kang B T and Wilson G F 1985 Use ofLeucaena leucocephala (Lam. de Wit) leaves as a nitrogen source for crop production. Fert. Res. 8, 107–116.
Tam T-Y, Mayfield C J, and Innis W E 1983 Microbial decomposition of leaf material at 0°C. Microb. Ecol., 9, 355–362.
Wagger M G, Kissel D E and Smith S J 1985 Mineralization of nitrogen from nitrogen-15 labeled crop residues under field conditions. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 49, 1220–1226.
Yaacob O and Blair G J 1980 Mineralization of15N-labelled legume residues in soils with different nitrogen contents and its uptake by rhodes grass. Plant and Soil 57, 237–248.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Müller, M.M., Sundman, V. The fate of nitrogen (15N) released from different plant materials during decomposition under field conditions. Plant Soil 105, 133–139 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02371151
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02371151