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Impact of potassium on plant uptake of non-exchangeable NH4 +-N

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Abstract

Aims and background

Release of ‘non-exchangeable’ NH4 +-N from interlayers of 2:1 clay minerals is postulated to depend not only on soil solution NH4 +-N concentration but also on the concentration of K+ and Ca2+. Concentrations of all three cations are altered in rhizosphere compared to soil solution at larger distance from the root surface.

Methods

Non-exchangeable NH4 +-N pool was labelled with 15 N. Treatments including application of K+, Ca2+ and K+ + Ca2+ were established. In a compartment system approach we analysed changes in soil solution concentrations of 15NH4 +-N, 15NO3 −-N, K+ and Ca2+ in situ at different distances from the root surface over time and related them to the release of non-exchangeable 15NH4 +-N and uptake of 15 N by plants.

Results and conclusions

The 15 N enrichment in plant tissue was significantly lower in treatments with K+ application compared to those without. This was in line with smaller depletion of non-exchangeable 15NH4 +-N in the rhizosphere for these treatments and also with lower 15 N abundance in soil solution NO3 −-N fraction. Hence, K+ application hampered the release of NH4 + from the interlayers. A promoting effect of increasing Ca2+ concentrations on release of non-exchangeable NH4 +-N could not be evaluated since the Ca2+ concentration in soil solution was largely controlled by small amounts of carbonate contained in the substrate and thus the addition of Ca2+ did not result in a relevant increase of soil solution Ca2+ concentration as originally intended.

The use of 15 N to follow the fate of non-exchangeable NH4 +-N proved very useful as it provides a higher sensitivity for all measured fractions compared to total N. However, as soil N fractions equilibrate with each other labelling one fraction exclusively is not possible.

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Acknowledgment

Christine Krenkewitz carried out analyses of plants, soil solution and soil samples; Claudia Hoffmann-Jäniche maintained the compartment system experiment and conducted soil solution sampling. Bernd Apelt and Rolf Russow adapted the 15 N determination in soil solution to the small sample sizes and conducted the 15 N analyses. We are grateful to the staff of the Klein-Altendorf Research station; and to the coordination team (Timo Kautz, Miriam Athmann) of FOR 1320 at University of Bonn. The study was funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (research group FOR 1320).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Nutrition, Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation, University of Bonn, Karlrobert-Kreiten-Straße 13, 53115, Bonn, Germany

    Patrick Beuters & Heinrich W. Scherer

  2. Department of Soil Physics, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Theodor-Lieser-Str. 4, 06120, Halle/Saale, Germany

    Oliver Spott & Doris Vetterlein

  3. Soil Science, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Von-Seckendorff-Platz 3, 06120, Halle/Saale, Germany

    Doris Vetterlein

Authors
  1. Patrick Beuters
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  2. Heinrich W. Scherer
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  3. Oliver Spott
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  4. Doris Vetterlein
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Doris Vetterlein.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: N. Jim Barrow.

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Figure S1

Sketch of compartment system. Dimensions are given in mm. Slots actually equipped with sensors in the experiment are marked in black. A hydrophilic nylon net of 30-μm mesh separates the root compartment from the bulk soil compartment. (PDF 23 kb)

Figure S2

Changes of non-exchangeable NH4 +-N in soil with increasing distance from the root surface at harvest (day 49) for control without plants (dashed line), treatments without K+ application (control, +Ca) and treatments with K+ application (+K, +Ca + K). 15 N-labelled soil has been placed initially at a distance of 0–30 mm. Points represent means of three replicates. Standard errors of residual variance are smaller than the symbol size and thus not visible. (GIF 70 kb)

High Resolution Image (TIFF 526 kb)

Figure S3

Changes in soil solution NH4 +-N concentrations with time and increasing distance from the root surface in treatments without K application (control, +Ca) and treatments with K application (+K, +Ca + K). The vertical line indicates the position of the nylon mesh (=root surface). 15 N-labelled soil has been placed initially at a distance of 0–30 mm. Points represent means of values measured in the right and left bulk soil compartment. R represents positions of suction cups, reaching 9 mm into the root compartment, i.e., at 9 mm distance of the nylon mesh. (GIF 73 kb)

High Resolution Image (TIFF 370 kb)

Figure S4

Changes in soil solution 15 N abundance of soil solution NH4 +-N with time and increasing distance from the root surface in treatments without K application (control, +Ca) and treatments with K application (+K, +Ca + K). The vertical line indicates the position of the nylon mesh (=root surface). 15 N-labelled soil has been placed initially at a distance of 0–30 mm. Points represent means of values measured in the right and left bulk soil compartment. R represents positions of suction cups, reaching 9 mm into the root compartment, i.e., at 9 mm distance of the nylon mesh. (GIF 53 kb)

High Resolution Image (TIFF 259 kb)

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Beuters, P., Scherer, H.W., Spott, O. et al. Impact of potassium on plant uptake of non-exchangeable NH4 +-N. Plant Soil 387, 37–47 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2275-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2275-6

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