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Turnover of grain legume N rhizodeposits and effect of rhizodeposition on the turnover of crop residues

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Abstract

The turnover of N derived from rhizodeposition of faba bean (Vicia faba L.), pea (Pisum sativum L.) and white lupin (Lupinus albus L.) and the effects of the rhizodeposition on the subsequent C and N turnover of its crop residues were investigated in an incubation experiment (168 days, 15 °C). A sandy loam soil for the experiment was either stored at 6 °C or planted with the respective grain legume in pots. Legumes were in situ 15N stem labelled during growth and visible roots were removed at maturity. The remaining plant-derived N in soil was defined as N rhizodeposition. In the experiment the turnover of C and N was compared in soils with and without previous growth of three legumes and with and without incorporation of crop residues. After 168 days, 21% (lupin), 26% (faba bean) and 27% (pea) of rhizodeposition N was mineralised in the treatments without crop residues. A smaller amount of 15–17% was present as microbial biomass and between 30 and 55% of mineralised rhizodeposition N was present as microbial residue pool, which consists of microbial exoenzymes, mucous substances and dead microbial biomass. The effect of rhizodeposition on the C and N turnover of crop residues was inconsistent. Rhizodeposition increased the crop residue C mineralisation only in the lupin treatment; a similar pattern was found for microbial C, whereas the microbial N was increased by rhizodeposition in all treatments. The recovery of residual 15N in the microbial and mineral N pool was similar between the treatments containing only labelled crop residues and labelled crop residues + labelled rhizodeposits. This indicates a similar decomposability of both rhizodeposition N and crop residue N and may be attributable to an immobilisation of both N sources (rhizodeposits and crop residues) as microbial residues and a subsequent remineralisation mainly from this pool.

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Abbreviations

C or Ndec :

C or N decomposed from residues

C or Nmic :

microbial C or N

C or Nmicres :

microbial residue C or N

C or Nmin :

mineralised C or N

C or Ninput :

added C or N as crop residues and/or rhizodeposits

dfr:

derived from residues

dfR:

derived from rhizodeposition

Ndfr:

N derived from residues

NdfR:

N derived from rhizodeposition

Nloss :

losses of N derived from residues

SOM:

soil organic matter

WHC:

water holding capacity

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Anja Sawallisch, Elke Brüggemann-Kohaupt and Sabine Ahlers for their skilled technical assistance and Rainer Georg Jörgensen and Torsten Müller for valuable discussions. The study was supported by a research grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Bonn, Germany.

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  1. Jochen Mayer

    Present address: Swiss Federal Research Station for Agroecology and Agriculture, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046 , Zürich, Switzerland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Organic Farming and Cropping, University of Kassel, Nordbahnhofstr. 1a, 37213 , Witzenhausen, Germany

    Jochen Mayer & Jürgen Heß

  2. GSF Research Centre for Environment and Health, Institute of Soil Ecology, P.O. Box 1129, 85758 , Oberschleißheim, Germany

    Franz Buegger & Michael Schloter

  3. Plant Research Department, PRD-301, Risø National Laboratory, 4000 , Roskilde, Denmark

    Erik Steen Jensen

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  1. Jochen Mayer
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Correspondence to Jochen Mayer.

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Mayer, J., Buegger, F., Jensen, E.S. et al. Turnover of grain legume N rhizodeposits and effect of rhizodeposition on the turnover of crop residues. Biol Fertil Soils 39, 153–164 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-003-0694-2

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