Abstract
Aerobic incubation of soils with sequential leachings to extract mineralized N is often used to determine N mineralization potential and N availability in the laboratory. This study used tropical forest soils with differing mineralogy and texture to address: (1) the effects of filter type and equilibration time on soil moisture and N mineralization and (2) the N extraction efficiency of 0.01 M CaCl2, minus-N nutrient solution (containing 0.004 M CaCl2) and 2 M KCl. Use of glass microfiber filters compared to cellulose acetate or polyethersulfone membrane filters resulted in a lower moisture content for both low-and high-clay soils. However, filter type did not affect N mineralization. Under 47 kPa suction, soil moisture equilibration occurred between 240 and 360 min regardless of filter type. Extraction efficiency for mineralized N using 0.01 M CaCl2 or minus-N nutrient solution was lower in forest soils of smectitic mineralogy and soils with a higher proportion of macroaggregates. However, with the exception of allophanic soils, the cumulative amount of N mineralized measured in a long-term incubation for approximately 1 year was not different when either a leaching or an unleached incubation method was used. These results indicate that researchers may wish to conduct preliminary evaluations to determine whether their incubation method will achieve a desired uniform moisture level and N extraction efficiency.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alpkem Corporation (1992) Ammonia nitrogen and nitrate+nitrite nitrogen. Doc. No. 000578 and Doc. No. 000589. Wilsonville, Oregon
Beauchamp EG, Reynolds WD, Brasche-Villeneuve D, Kirby K (1986) Nitrogen mineralization kinetics with different soil pretreatments and cropping histories. Soil Sci Soc Am J 50: 1478–1483
Bonde TA, Rosswall T (1987) Seasonal variation of potentially mineralizable nitrogen in four cropping systems. Soil Sci Soc Am J 51:1508–1514
Bonde TA, Schnürer J, Rosswall T (1988) Microbial biomass as a fraction of potentially mineralizable nitrogen in soils from long-term field experiments. Soil Biol Biochem 20:447–452
Boyle M, Paul EA (1989) Carbon and nitrogen mineralization kinetics in soil previously amended with sewage sludge. Soil Sci Soc Am J 53:99–103
Bundy LG, Meisinger JJ (1994) Nitrogen availability indices. In: Weaver R, Angle S, Bottomley P, Bezdicek D, Smith S, Tabatabai A, Wollum A (eds) Methods of soil analysis. Part 2. Microbiological and biochemical, properties. Series No. 5. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, Wis, pp 951–984
Ellert BH, Bettany JR (1988) Comparison of kinetic models for describing net sulfur and nitrogen mineralization. Soil Sci Soc Am J 52:1692–1702
Elliott ET, Palm CA, Reuss De, Monz CA (1991) Organic matter contained in soil aggregates from a tropical chronosequence: correction for sand and light fraction. Agric, Ecosys Environ 34:443–451
Gelman Sciences (1993) The filter book. Ann Arbor, Mich
Keeney DR (1982) Nitrogen-availability indices. In: Page AL, Miller RH, Keeney DR (eds) Methods of soil analysis. Part 2. Chemical and microbiological properties, 2nd edn. Agronomy 9, Am Soc Agron, Madison, Wis, pp 711–733
Klute A (1986) Water retention: Laboratory methods. In: Klute A (ed) Methods of soil analysis. Part 1. Physical and mineralogical properties, 2nd edn, Agronomy 9, Am Soc Agron, Madison, Wis, pp 635–662
Lachat Instruments (1990) Quikchem methods no. 12-107-06-2-B and no. 10-107-04-1-A. Milwaukee, Wis
Lueking MA, Schepers JS (1986) Achieving desired moisture conditions in potentially mineralizable nitrogen incubation studies. Soil Sci Soc Am J 50:1370–1373
MacKay DC, Carefoot JM (1981) Control of water content in laboratory determination of mineralizable nitrogen in soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 45:444–446
Marion GM, Black CH (1988) Potentially available nitrogen and phosphorus along a chaparral fire cycle chronosequence. Soil Sci Soc Am J 52:1155–1162
Maynard DG, Stewart JWB, Bettany JR (1983) Sulfur and nitrogen mineraligation in soils compared using two incubation techniques. Soil Biol Biochem 15:251–256
Motavalli PP, Palm CA, Parton WJ, Elliott ET, Frey SD (1994) Comparison of laboratory and modelling simulation methods for estimating soil carbon pools in tropical forest soils. Soil Biol Biochem 26:935–944
Munevar F, Wollum AG (1977) Effects of the addition of phosphorus and inorganic nitrogen on carbon and nitrogen mineralization in Andepts from Colombia. Soil Sci Soc Am J 41:540–545
Munro DC, MacKay DC (1964) Effect of incubation method and storage conditions on nitrate production of incubated soil samples. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 28:778–781
Myers RJK, Campbell CA, Weier KL (1982) Quantitative relationship between net nitrogen mineralization andmoisture content of soils. Can J Soil Sci 62:111–124
Nadelhoffer KJ (1990) Microlysimeter for measuring nitrogen mineralization and microbial respiration in aerobic soil incubations. Soil Sci Soc Am J 54:411–415
Nommik H, Vahtras K (1982) Retention and fixation of ammonium and ammonia in soils. In: Stevenson FJ (eds) Nitrogen in agricultural soils, no. 22. Am Soc Agron, Madison, Wis, pp 123–171
Robertson K, Schnürer J, Clarholm M, Bonde TA, Rosswall T (1988) Microbial biomass in relation to C and N mineralization during laboratory incubations. Soil Biol Biochem 20:281–286
SAS Institute (1988) SAS/STAT users guide, release 6.03 edn. Cary, North Carolina
Stanford G, Epstein E (1974) Nitrogen mineralization-water relations in soils. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 38:103–107
Stanford G, Smith SJ (1972) Nitrogen mineralization potentials of soils. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 36:465–472
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Motavalli, P.P., Frey, S.D. & Scott, N.A. Effects of filter type and extraction efficiency on nitrogen mineralization measurements using the aerobic leaching soil incubation method. Biol Fertil Soils 20, 197–204 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00336558
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00336558