The influence of living plants on mineralization and immobilization of nitrogen

Summary

Changes in the pattern of distribution of the nitrogen of the soil and seedling grass plants have been investigated when the grass plants were grown in pots of sandy soil, from a pasture, at pH 5.7. Net mineralization of soil nitrogen was not observed during an experimental period of one month in the absence of added nitrogenous fertilizer (Table 2).

Addition of labeled nitrogen (as ammonium sulphate) to the soil at the beginning of the experimental period resulted in a negative net mineralization during this period (Table 4b). When none of the fertilizer nitrogen remained in its original form in the soil it was found that approximately 12 per cent of the labeled nitrogen had been immobilized in soil organic compounds.

Clipping of the grass at this date was followed by a decrease in the amount of labeled soil organic nitrogen, indicating that mineralization was not depressed by living plants.

The application of unlabeled ammonium sulphate subsequent to the utilization of the labeled nitrogen did not decrease the amount of immobilized labeled nitrogen in the soil organic matter, as would be expected if the organic nitrogen compounds of the soil had been decomposed to ammonia. This was thought to be due to the fact that decomposition of organic nitrogen compounds in permanent grassland results in the production of peptides, amino acids etc. which are utilized by microorganisms without deamination taking place.

In pots with ageing grass plants, labeled organic nitrogen compounds were found to be translocated from the grass shoots to the soil (Table 7).

Net mineralization of soil organic nitrogen was positive in the contents of pots containing killed root systems (Table 3b). About 8 per cent of the labeled nitrogen added to the contents of such pots, in the form of ammonium sulphate, was found to be present in soil organic nitrogen compounds approximately 4 weeks after application, while a total of about twice this amount of soil organic nitrogen was mineralized during that period.

From the results obtained in this investigation, it is concluded that the constant presence of living plants is responsible for the accumulation of nitrogen in organic compounds in permanent grassland. No evidence was obtained that the decomposition of such compounds in the soil is inhibited by living plants.