Abstract
Previous studies on the fate of fertiliser nitrogen applied to winter wheat in temperate climates have shown that nitrogen (N) applied early, at tillering for wheat, was less efficiently taken up than N applied later in the growth cycle. We examined the extent to which the soil microbial N immobilisation varied during the wheat spring growth cycle and how microbial immobilisation and plant uptake competed for nitrogen. We set up a pulse-15N labelled field experiment in which N was applied at eight development stages from tillering (beginning of March) to anthesis (mid-June). Each application was 50 kg N ha-1 as 15N labelled urea except for the first application which was 25 kg N ha-1. The distribution of fertiliser 15N in shoots, roots, mineral and organic soil N was examined by destructive sampling 7 and 14 days after each 15N pulse. The inorganic 15N pool was almost depleted by day 14. The N uptake efficiency increased with later applications from 45% at tillering to 65% at flowering. N immobilisation was rather constant at 13–16% of N applied, whatever the date of application. The increase in plant 15N uptake resulted in an increase in the total 15N recovery in the plant-soil system (15N in soil +15N in plant), suggesting that gaseous losses were lower at the later application dates.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andrén O and Paustian K 1987 Barley straw decomposition in the field: a comparison of models. Ecology 68, 1190–1200.
Barraclough P B and Leigh R A 1984 The growth and activity of winter wheat roots in the field: the effect of sowing date and soil type on root-growth of high-yielding crops. J. Agric. Sci., Camb. 103, 59–74.
Bhogal A, Young S D and Sylvester-Bradley R 1997 Fate of 15Nlabelled fertilizer in a long-term field trial at Ropsley, UK. J. Agric. Sci., Camb. 129, 49–63.
Bjarnason S 1988 Calculation of gross nitrogen immobilisation and mineralisation in soil. J. Soil Sci. 39, 393–406.
Bremner J M 1965 Total Nitrogen In Methods of Soil Analysis. Eds. Black C A et al. 1149–1178. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
Bristow A W, Ryden J C and Whitehead D C 1987 The fate at several time intervals of 15N-labelled ammonium nitrate applied to an established grass sward. J. Soil Sci. 38, 245–254.
Glendining M J, Poulton P R, Powlson D S and Jenkinson D S 1997 Fate of 15N-labelled fertilizer applied to spring barley grown on soils of contrasting nutrient status. Plant Soil 195, 83–98.
Greenwood D J, Gastal F, Lemaire G, Draycott A, Millard P, Neeteson J J 1991 Growth rate and % N of field grown crops: theory and experiments. Ann. Bot. 67, 181–190.
Henriksen A and Selmer-Olsen A 1970 Automatic methods for determining nitrate and nitrite in water and soil extracts. Analyst 95, 514–518.
Jackson L E, Schimel J P and Firestone M K 1989 Short-term partitioning of ammonium and nitrate between plants and microbes in an annual grassland. Soil Biol. Biochem. 21, 409–415.
Justes E, Mary B, Meynard J M, Machet J M and Thelier-Huche L 1994 Determination of a critical nitrogen dilution curve for winter wheat crops. Ann. Bot. 74, 397–407.
Kaye J P and Hart S C 1997 Competition for nitrogen between plants and soil micro-organisms. Tree 12, 139–143.
MacDonald A J, Powlson D S, Poulton P R and Jenkinson D S 1989 Unused fertiliser nitrogen in arable soils-its contribution to nitrate leaching. J. Sci. Food Agric. 46, 407–419.
Machet J M, Pierre D, Recous S and Rémy J C 1987 Signification du coefficient réel d'utilisation et conséquences pour la fertilisation azotée des cultures. C. R. Acad. Agric. Fr. 73,3, 39–55.
Mahli S S 1995 Influence of source, timing and method of application, and simulated rainfall on recovery of nitrogen fertilisers applied to bromegrass. Fert. Res. 41, 1–10.
Mahli S S and Nyborg M 1991 Recovery of 15N-labelled urea: influence of zero tillage, and time and method of application. Fert. Res. 28, 263–269.
Mahli S S, Nyborg M and Solberg E D 1996 Influence of source, method of placement and simulated rainfall on the recovery of 15N-labelled fertilisers under zero tillage. Can. J. Soil Sci. 76, 93–100.
Marshall R B and Whiteway J N 1985 Automation of an interface between a nitrogen analyser and an isotope ratio mass spectrometer. Analyst 110, 867–887.
Mary B, Fresneau C, Morel J L and Mariotti A 1993 C and N cycling during decomposition of root mucilage, roots and glucose in soil. Soil Biol. Biochem. 25,8, 1005–1014.
Mulvaney R L and Bremner J M 1979 A modified diacetyl monoxime method for colorimetric determination of urea in soil extracts. Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal. 10,8, 1163–1170.
Neeteson J J, Greenwood D J and Habets E J 1991 Dependence of soil mineral N on N-fertiliser application. Plant Soil 91, 417–420.
Nielsen N E and Jensen H E 1986 The course of nitrogen uptake by spring barley from soil and fertiliser nitrogen. Plant Soil 91, 391–395.
Olson R V 1982 Immobilisation, nitrification, and losses of fall-applied labelled ammonium-nitrogen during growth of winter wheat. Agron. J. 74, 991–995.
Olson R V and Swallow C W 1984 Fate of labelled nitrogen fertiliser applied to winter wheat for five years. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 48, 583–586.
Pilbeam C J 1996 Effect of climate on the recovery in crop and soil of 15N-labelled fertiliser applied to wheat. Fert. Res. 45, 209–215.
Powlson D S, Hart P B S, Poulton P R, Johnston A E and Jenkinson D S 1992 Influence of soil type, crop management and weather on the recovery of 15N-labelled fertiliser applied to winter wheat in spring. J. Agric. Sci., Camb. 118, 83–100.
Recous S, Fresneau C, Faurie G and Mary B 1988a The fate of labelled 15N urea and ammonium nitrate applied to winter wheat crop. I-Nitrogen transformations in the soil. Plant Soil 112, 205–214.
Recous S, Machet J M and Mary B 1988b The fate of labelled 15N urea and ammonium nitrate applied to winter wheat crop. II-Plant uptake and N efficiency. Plant Soil 112, 215–224.
Recous S, Machet J M and Mary B 1992 Partitioning of fertiliser N between soil microflora and crop: comparison of ammonium and nitrate applications. Plant Soil 144, 101–111.
Recous S 1995 Réponse des matières organiques des sols aux changements globaux. II. Effet de la température sur la minéralisation d'un résidu végétal (maïs) et de la matière organique des sols. In Ecosystèmes naturels et cultivés et changements globaux, Les dossiers de l'Environnement de l' INRA, 8, 12–18.
Rémy J C and Viaux Ph 1982 The use of nitrogen fertilisers in intensive wheat growing in France. In Symposium on fertilisers and intensive wheat production in EEC., pp. 67–92. The Fertiliser Society, London.
Stevens R J and Laughlin R J 1989 A microplot study of the fate of 15N-labelled ammonium nitrate and urea applied at two rates to ryegrass in spring. Fert. Res. 20, 33–39.
Strong W M 1995 Nitrogen fertilisation of upland crops. In Nitrogen Fertilisation in the Environment. Ed P E Bacon. pp. 129–170. Marcel Dekker, Inc. New York.
Swinnen J, Van Veen J A and Merckx R 1994 Rhizosphere carbon fluxes in field-grown spring wheat: model calculations based on14C partitioning after pulse-labelling. Soil Biol. Biochem. 26,2, 171–182.
Van Noordwijk M, Brouwer G, Koning H, Meijboom F W and Grzebisz W 1994 Production and decay of structural root material of winter wheat and sugar beet in conventional and integrated cropping systems. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 51, 99–113.
Van Noordwijk M and Floris J 1979 Loss of dry weight during washing and storage of root samples. Plant Soil 53, 239–243.
Verdow H 1977 Ammonia determination based on indophenol formation with sodium salicylate. Water Res. 12, 399–402.
Vos G J M, Duquet B, Vedy J C and Neyroud J A 1993 The course of 15N-ammonium nitrate in a spring barley cropping system. Plant Soil 150, 167–175.
Wuest S B and Cassman K G 1992 Fertiliser-nitrogen use efficiency of irrigated wheat: I. Uptake efficiency of preplant versus late-season application. Agron. J. 84, 682–688.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Recous, S., Machet, JM. Short-term immobilisation and crop uptake of fertiliser nitrogen applied to winter wheat: effect of date of application in spring. Plant Soil 206, 137–149 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1004377006602
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1004377006602