Abstract
Background and aims
Catch crops (CC) reduce nitrate leaching, and may resolve a major concern in nitrogen (N) intensive agriculture. CC efficiency depends on N uptake ability, which is related to root development, biomass partitioning, and competition with soil microbes. We investigated the effect of N addition on this with three CC species.
Methods
Three CC species were grown in pots with three N concentrations. Shoot and root biomass, C:N content, and specific root length were determined, whereas residual N, dissolved organic N (DON) and C, and microbial biomass N and C were measured.
Results
Addition of N did not consistently effect plant biomass nor its partitioning, probably because of overall high N. However, CC did reduce residual N, and so did soil microorganisms, likely facilitated by C-release from roots. Moreover, plant presence reduced DON, likely through uptake by soil microorganisms, partly followed by plant uptake.
Conclusions
CC not only take up residual N themselves, but also trigger considerable N uptake by soil microorganisms that thrive on C-release from roots. This plant-microbe-nitrogen interaction has to be considered when evaluating CC systems. It remains unclear to which extent soil microorganisms immobilise inorganic N and mineralise or take up DON.
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Abbreviations
- C:
-
Carbon
- CC:
-
Catch crops
- DON:
-
Dissolved organic nitrogen
- DOC:
-
Dissolved organic carbon
- NH4 + :
-
Ammonium
- NO3 − :
-
Nitrate
- N:
-
Nitrogen
- RE:
-
Recovery efficiency
- SRL:
-
specific root length
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Alison Arico, David Lehnert and Mattis Höft for practical assistance, Conor Watson and Paul van der Ven for sample measurements, Max Freericks, Julia Gorris and Franz Kuhnigk for their great support, Natalie Oram for statistical help, and Eric Visser for very valuable comments on the manuscript.
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in ‘t Zandt, D., Fritz, C. & Wichern, F. In the land of plenty: catch crops trigger nitrogen uptake by soil microorganisms. Plant Soil 423, 549–562 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-017-3540-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-017-3540-2