Abstract
In order to investigate the effect of soil water and texture on C and N mineralisation of applied organic matter, sheep manure was sandwiched between two halves of intact soil cores and incubated at 20°C. The soils contained 10.8% (L1), 22.4% (L3) and 33.7% (L5) clay, respectively, and were drained to seven different matric potentials in the range –15 to –1,500 hPa. Evolution of CO2-C was determined during 4 weeks of incubation. Contents of NO3 –-N, 15N and microbial biomass N were determined at the end of the incubation. The net release of CO2-C from the manure (estimated as the difference between soils with and without manure) and the total CO2-C evolution from soils with manure was not related to soil water content. Most CO2-C evolved from manure-amended soils in the least clayey L1 soil. The manure caused immobilisation of soil NO3 –-N but the soil matric potential had no major effects on the net NO3 –-N production. Less than 1% of the manure 15N was found as NO3 –-N at the end of the incubation. When unamended, the sandy L1 soil held the least N in microbial biomass but the largest increases in biomass N caused by manure application were found in this soil. Despite the higher increases in microbial biomass N in the L1 soil, the total content of microbial biomass N in soils with manure application peaked in the most clayey soil (L5). The recovery of manure 15N at the end of the incubation ranged from 89% to 102%. The variation in 15N recovery was not related to soil clay content nor to soil matric potential. The experimental set-up was designed to mimic field conditions where manure is left as a discrete layer surrounded by structurally intact soil. In this situation the soil clay content and the soil water level appeared to have little influence on the C and N turnover in the manure layer.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amato M, Ladd JN (1992) Decomposition of 14C-labelled glucose and legume material in soils: properties influencing the accumulation of organic residue C and microbial biomass C. Soil Biol Biochem 24:455–464
Bhaumik HD, Clark FE (1947) Soil moisture tension and microbial activity. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 12:234–238
Bridge BJ, Rixon AJ (1976) Oxygen uptake and respiratory quotient of field soil cores in relation to their air-filled pore space. J Soil Sci 27:279–286
Brookes PC, Landman A, Pruden G, Jenkinson DS (1985) Chloroform fumigation and the release of soil nitrogen: a rapid extraction method to measure microbial biomass nitrogen in soil. Soil Biol Biochem 17:837–842
Brooks PD, Stark JM, McInteer BB, Preston T (1989) Diffusion method to prepare soil extracts for automated nitrogen-15 analysis. Soil Sci Soc Am J 53:1707–1711
Cabrera ML, Kissel DE (1988) Potentially mineralizable nitrogen in disturbed and undisturbed soil samples. Soil Sci Soc Am J 52:1010–1015
De Neve S, Hofman G (2002) Quantifying soil water effects on nitrogen mineralization from soil organic matter and from fresh crop residues. Biol Fertil Soils 35:379–386
Gregorich EG, Voroney RP, Kachanoski RG (1991) Turnover of carbon through the microbial biomass in soils with different textures. Soil Biol Biochem 23:799–805
Hassink J, Bouwman LA, Zwart KB, Brussaard L (1993) Relationships between habitable pore space, soil biota and mineralization rates in grassland soils. Soil Biol Biochem 25:47–55
Jensen B, Sørensen P, Thomsen IK, Jensen ES, Christensen BT (1999) Availability of nitrogen in 15N-labeled ruminant manure components to successively grown crops. Soil Sci Soc Am J 63:416–423
Killham K, Amato M, Ladd JN (1993) Effect of substrate location in soil and soil pore-water regime on carbon turnover. Soil Biol Biochem 25:57–62
Kirchmann H (1991) Carbon and nitrogen mineralization of fresh, aerobic and anaerobic animal manures during incubation with soil. Swed J Agric Res 21:165–173
Linn DM, Doran JW (1984) Effect of water-filled pore space on carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide production in tilled and nontilled soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 48:1267–1272
Mary B, Recous S, Robin D (1998) A model for calculating nitrogen fluxes in soil using 15N tracing. Soil Biol Biochem 30:1963–1979
Rice CW, Tiedje JM (1989) Regulation of nitrate assimilation by ammonium in soils and in isolated soil microorganisms. Soil Biol Biochem 21:597–602
SAS Institute (1988) SAS/STAT user's guide. Release 6.03 edn. SAS Institute, Cary, N.C.
Schjønning P (1985) Udstyr til afdraening af jordprøver for jordfysiske analyser (Equipment for drainage of soil samples; in Danish with English summary). Tidsskrift for Planteavls Specialserie. Beretning nr. S 1762. The Danish Institute of Plant and Soil Science, Tjele
Schjønning P, Thomsen IK, Moldrup P, Christensen, BT (2003) Linking soil microbial activity to water- and air-phase contents and diffusivities. Soil Sci Soc Am J 67:156–165
Schjønning P, Thomsen IK, Møberg JP, de Jonge H, Kristensen K, Christensen BT (1999) Turnover of organic matter in differently textured soils. I. Physical characteristics of structurally disturbed and intact soils. Geoderma 89:177–198
Scott NA, Cole CV, Elliott ET, Huffmann SA (1996) Soil textural control on decomposition and soil organic matter dynamics. Soil Sci Soc Am J 60:1102–1109
Skopp J, Jawson MD, Doran JW (1990) Steady-state aerobic microbial activity as a function of soil water content. Soil Sci Soc Am J 54:1619–1625
Stenger R, Barkle GF, Burgess CP (2001) Mineralization and immobilization of C and N from dairy farm effluent (DFE) and glucose plus ammonium chloride solution in three grassland topsoils. Soil Biol Biochem 33:1037–1048
Stenger R, Preisack E, Beese F (1995) Rates of net nitrogen mineralization in disturbed and undisturbed soils. Plant Soil 171:323–332
Strong DT, Sale PWG, Helyar KR (1997) A technique for the non-destructive measurement of nitrate in small soil volumes. Aust J Soil Res 35:571–578
Sørensen P, Amato M (2002) Remineralisation and residual effects of N after application of pig slurry to soil. Eur J Agron 16:81–95
Thomsen IK (2000) C and N transformations in 15N-cross-labelled solid ruminant manure during anaerobic and aerobic storage. Biores Tech 72:267–274
Thomsen IK, Olesen JE (2000) C and N mineralization of composted and anaerobically stored ruminant manure in differently textured soils. J Agric Sci Cambr 135:151–159
Thomsen IK, Olesen JE, Schjønning P, Jensen B, Christensen BT (2001) Net mineralization of soil N and 15N-ryegrass residues in differently textured soils of similar mineralogical composition. Soil Biol Biochem 33:277–285
Thomsen IK, Schjønning P (2003) Evaluation of a non-destructive technique for inorganic soil N measurement. Geoderma 113:147–160
Thomsen IK, Schjønning P, Jensen B, Kristensen K, Christensen BT (1999) Turnover of organic matter in differently textured soils. II. Microbial activity as influenced by soil water regimes. Geoderma 89:199–218
Van Kessel JS, Reeves JB III (2002) Nitrogen mineralization potential of dairy manures and its relationship to composition. Biol Fertil Soils 36:118–123
Acknowledgements
We thank Mr. Lars Jørgen Pedersen, owner of the Lerbjerg Estate, for access to the field site and Dr. David T. Strong for providing the ceramic discs. The technical assistance of Bodil B. Christensen, Michael Koppelgaard, Stig T. Rasmussen and Karin Dyrberg is gratefully acknowledged. This work was financially supported by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries (Project HAR98-DJF-4).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Thomsen, I.K., Schjønning, P. & Christensen, B.T. Mineralisation of 15N-labelled sheep manure in soils of different texture and water contents. Biol Fertil Soils 37, 295–301 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-003-0595-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-003-0595-4