Abstract
Purpose
Soil erosion controls nitrogen (N) bioavailability and immobilization in soil, thereby affecting soil fertility and ecological risk. In eroding landscapes, however, emphasis has been placed on soil carbon (C) dynamics, largely neglecting the mechanisms controlling the distribution and bioavailability of N in topsoil versus subsoil. Here, we examined how erosion changes the size of dissolved N pools, mobilization of aggregate-associated total N (ATN), and the biodegradation of soil N in topsoil (0-20 cm) versus subsoil (80-100 cm) along an eroding agricultural landscape.
Materials and methods
Soil samples collected from three representative topographic sites, up-slope (non-erosion), mid-slope (erosion), and down-slope (deposition), were fractionated and incubated to investigate N pool transformation and bioavailability.
Results and discussion
The results showed that 75.9 to 96.3% of the dissolved total N (DTN) occurred in the organic form. At depths of 0–80 cm, the up-slope site had significantly higher DON contents than the mid-slope and down-slope sites. The macroaggregate-associated N in the down-slope increased by 1.44 to 2.40 times compared with the mid-slope for topsoil and subsoil. The highest C/N ratios in all aggregate fractions were observed at depositional sites, indicating that particulate organic matter is preferentially transported. Nitrification was dominant in N mineralization and eroding topsoil had significantly higher nitrification levels than non-eroding and depositional soil.
Conclusions
Our findings suggest that erosion significantly reduced the size of dissolved N pools, accelerated ATN mobilization in eroding sites, and increased N bioavailability in the eroding sites. Therefore, we highlighted a thorough 1-m profile understanding and assessed N pools along the Mollisol eroding landscape.
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This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42077063) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2020TC118).
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Highlights
1. Dissolved organic N was a dominant role in DTN accounting for 75.9–96.3% in 1-m soil profiles.
2. Erosion and deposition resulted in a significant decrease in DON content in 1-m soil profiles.
3. Increased ATN within macroaggregate promoted N accumulation at the depositional site.
4. Erosion significantly altered the potential of DON immobilization in subsoil.
5. In contrast to non-eroding and depositional soil, eroding soil had strong nitrification.
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Wang, Z., Pan, S., Lv, J. et al. Erosion and deposition controlling redistribution and biodegradation of nitrogen fractions along a Mollisol agricultural landscape. J Soils Sediments 24, 86–97 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-023-03642-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-023-03642-4