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Microbial ammonium immobilization promoted soil nitrogen retention under high moisture conditions in intensively managed fluvo-aquic soils

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Abstract

Quantifying the gross rates of individual nitrogen (N) processes is critical for understanding the availability, retention and loss of N and its eco-environmental impacts in agricultural ecosystems. Here, we carried out a 15N tracing study to quantify the influence of soil moisture on the gross rates of ten different N processes in two intensively managed fluvo-aquic soils. Results showed that the gross N mineralization rates were insensitive to changes in soil moisture, ranging from 40 to 120% water-filled pore space (WFPS). Contrarily, the gross ammonium (NH4+) immobilization rates increased exponentially with elevated soil moisture. Specifically, under high soil moisture conditions (i.e., 90–120%WFPS), the gross NH4+ immobilization rates (4.04 ± 0.83 and 0.88 ± 0.28 mg N kg− 1d− 1 for the two soils, respectively) were nearly four times higher than those under medium or low moisture conditions (i.e., 40–80%WFPS). Meanwhile, the high WFPS reduced the gross autotrophic nitrification rates (5.92 ± 2.15 and 12.31 ± 3.83 mg-N kg− 1d− 1 for the two soils, respectively) to only one-third to one-half of those that were observed under medium or low WFPS. By contrast, the rates of nitrate (NO3−) immobilization increased in one soil whereas they decreased in another under high moisture conditions, and the other N processes (including heterotrophic nitrification and dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA)) were negligible throughout the different WFPS. Overall, our results suggest that under highly saturated conditions, the increase in microbial NH4+ immobilization and decrease in autotrophic nitrification are critical for N retention in the fluvo-aquic soils. These findings provide valuable insights into potential alterations in soil N retention or loss under future climate change scenarios, where more intensive irrigation and extreme rainfall events are anticipated.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42077009, 42221001), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20211610), and by the Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Surface-Earth System Science, School of Earth System Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China

    Hui Wang, Zhifeng Yan & Si-Liang Li

  2. Critical Zone Observatory of Bohai Coastal Region, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Earth Critical Zone Science and Sustainable Development in Bohai Rim, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China

    Zhifeng Yan & Si-Liang Li

  3. State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Zengming Chen

  4. State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China

    Xiaotong Song

  5. School of Geography Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Jinbo Zhang

  6. College of Tropical Crops, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China

    Jinbo Zhang & Xiaotang Ju

  7. Liebig Centre for Agroecology and Climate Impact Research, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany

    Christoph Müller

  8. Institute of Plant Ecology, Justus Liebig University Giessen, 35392, Giessen, Germany

    Christoph Müller

  9. School of Biology and Environmental Science and Earth Institute, University College Dublin, Dublin, D04, Ireland

    Christoph Müller

  10. Department of Soil Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53709, USA

    Xia Zhu-Barker

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  1. Hui Wang
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  2. Zhifeng Yan
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  3. Zengming Chen
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  4. Xiaotong Song
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  5. Jinbo Zhang
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Contributions

All authors contributed to this study. H. W. conducted the experiments and wrote the first draft, and Z.Y. guided the experiments and completed the final draft. C.M., X.Z.B., X. S., X. J., Z. C., J. Z., and S. L. helped to improve the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Zhifeng Yan.

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Wang, H., Yan, Z., Chen, Z. et al. Microbial ammonium immobilization promoted soil nitrogen retention under high moisture conditions in intensively managed fluvo-aquic soils. Biol Fertil Soils (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-024-01831-y

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