Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Seasonal dynamic of gross nitrification and N2O emission at two tropical rainforest sites in Queensland, Australia

  • Regular Article
  • Published:
Plant and Soil Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Combined measurements of nitrification activity and N2O emissions were performed in a lowland and a montane tropical rainforest ecosystem in NE-Australia over a 18 months period from October 2001 until May 2003. At both sites gross nitrification rates, measured by the BaPS technique, showed a strong seasonal pattern with significantly higher rates of gross nitrification during wet season conditions. Nitrification rates at the montane site (1.48 ± 0.24–18.75 ± 2.38 mg N kg−1 day−1) were found to be significantly higher than at the lowland site (1.65 ± 0.21–4.54 ± 0.27 mg N kg−1 day−1). The relationship between soil moisture and gross nitrification rates could be described best by O’Neill functions having a soil moisture optimum of nitrification at app. 65% WFPS. At the lowland site, for which continuous measurements of N2O emissions were available, nitrification was positively correlated with N2O emission. Nitrification contributed significantly to N2O formation during dry season (app.85%) but less (app. 30%) during wet season conditions. In average 0.19‰ of the N metabolized by nitrification was released as N2O. The N2O fraction loss for nitrification was positively correlated with changes in soil moisture and varied slightly between 0.15 and 0.22‰. Our results demonstrate that combined N2O emission and microbial N turnover studies covering prolonged observation periods are needed to clarify and quantify the role of the microbial processes nitrification and denitrification for annual N2O emissions from soils of terrestrial ecosystems.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ambus P (2005) Relationship between gross nitrogen cycling and nitrous oxide emission in grass-clover pasture. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 72:189–199

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barraclough D (1995) 15N isotope dilution techniques to study soil nitrogen transformations and plant uptake. Fertil Res 42:185–192

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Booth M, Stark JM, Rastetter E (2005) Controls on nitrogen cycling in terrestrial ecosystems: a synthetic analysis of literature data. Ecol Monogr 75:139–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breuer L, Kiese R, Butterbach-Bahl K (2002) Temperature and moisture effects on nitrification rates in tropical rain-forest soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 66:834–844

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cochran WG (1950) Estimation of bacterial densities by means of the “most probable number”. Biometrics 6:105–116

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Conrad R (1996) Soil microorganisms as controllers of atmospheric trace gases (H2, CO, CH4, OCS, N2O and NO). Microbiol Rev 60:609–640

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Corre MD, Schnabel RR, Stout WL (2002) Spatial and seasonal variation in gross nitrogen transformations and microbial biomass in a Northeastern US grassland. Soil Biol Biochem 30:445–457

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corre MD, Beese FO, Brumme R (2003) Soil nitrogen cycle in high nitrogen deposition forest: changes under nitrogen saturation and liming. Ecol Appl 13:287–298

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson EA, Firestone MK, Stark JM (1990) Microbial production and consumption of nitrate in an annual grassland. Ecology 71:1968–1975

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson EA, Hart SC, Shanks CA, Firestone MK (1991) Measuring gross nitrogen mineralization, immobilization, and nitrification by 15N isotopic pool dilution in intact soil cores. J Soil Sci 42:335–349

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson EA, Firestone MK, Hart SC (1992) Internal cycling of nitrate in soils of a mature coniferous forest. Ecology 73:1148–1156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson EA, Matson PA, Vitousek PM, Riley R, Dinkin K, Garcia-Méndez G, Maass JM (1993) Processes regulating soil emission of NO and N2O in a seasonally dry tropical forest. Ecology 74:130–139

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • De Man JC (1977) MPN Tables for more than one test. Eur J Appl Microbiol 4:307–316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grimm H (1960) Quelques problèmes de numérations bactériennes. Biométrie-Praximétrie 2:1–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Heidenfelder A (2002) Einfluß von Klima und Bewirtschaftung auf am N-Umsatz beteiligte mikrobielle Prozesse in Waldböden Ph.D. Thesis, University of Freiburg, Germany

    Google Scholar 

  • Henzell EF, Vallis I, Lindquist JK (1968) Automatic colorimetric methods for determination of nitrogen in digests and extracts of soil. Trans. 9th Internat. Cong Soil Sci Adelaide 513–520

  • Hutchinson GL, Davidson EA (1993) Processes for production and consumption of gaseous nitrogen oxides in soil. In: Harper LA, Mosier AR, Duxbury JM, Rolston DE (eds) Agricultural Ecosystem Effects on Trace Gases and Global Climate Change. ASA Special publication number 55, Madison, WI, USA, pp (pp. 79–93)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ingwersen J, Butterbach-Bahl K, Gasche R, Richter O, Papen H (1999) Barometric process separation: New method for quantifying nitrification, denitrification, and nitrous oxide sources in soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 63:117–128

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ingwersen J, Schwarz U, Stange CF, Ju X, Streck T (2007) Shortcomings in the commercialized Barometric Process Separation Measuring System. Soil Sci Soc Am J (in press)

  • IPCC (2007) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Solomon S., Quin D., Manning M., Chen z., Marquis M, Averyt KB, Tignor M, Miller HL (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.

  • Khalil MI, Baggs EM (2005) CH4 oxidation and N2O emissions at varied soil water-filled pore spaces and headspace CH4 concentrations. Soil Biol Biochem 37:1785–1794

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kiese R, Butterbach-Bahl K (2002) N2O and CO2 emissions from three different tropical forest sites in the wet tropics of Queensland, Australia. Soil Biol Biochem 34:975–987

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kiese R, Papen H, Zumbusch E, Butterbach-Bahl K (2002) Nitrification activity in tropical rainforest soils of the Coastal Lowlands and Atherton Tablelands, Queensland, Australia. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci 165:682–685

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kiese R, Hewett B, Graham A, Butterbach-Bahl K (2003) Seasonal variability of N2O emissions and CH4 uptake by tropical rainforest soils of Queensland, Australia Global Biogeochemical Cycles 17: DOI 10.1029/2002GB002014

  • Kirkham D, Bartolomew WV (1954) Equations for following nutrient transformations in soil, utilizing tracer data. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 18:33–34

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Laffan MD (1988) Soils and land use on the Atherton Tableland, North Queensland. In: Soils and Landuse Ser., vol. 61, CSIRO, Melbourne

  • Low AP, Stark JM, Dudley LM (1997) Effects of soil osmotic potential on nitrification, ammonification, N-assimilation, and nitrous oxide production. Soil Sci 162:16–27

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Martinelli LA, Piccolo MC, Townsend AR, Vitousek PM, Cuevas E, McDowell WA, Robertson GP, Santos OC, Treseder K (1999) Nitrogen stable isotope composition of leaves and soil: Tropical versus temperate forests. Biogeochem 46:45–55

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Müller C, Kaleem Abbasi M, Kammann C, Clough TJ, Sherlock RR, Stevens RJ, Jäger HJ (2004) Soil respiratory quotient determined via barometric process separation combined with Nitrogen-15 labeling. Soil Sci Soc Am J 68:1610–1615

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakajima Y, Ishizuka S, Tsuruta H, Iswandi A, Murdiyarso D (2005) Microbial processes responsible for nitrous oxide production form acid soils in different land-use patterns in Pasirmayang, central Sumatra, Indonesia. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 71:33–42

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Neill C, Piccolo MC, Steudler PA, Melillo JM, Feigl BJ, Cerri CC (1995) Nitrogen dynamics in soils of forest and active pastures in the Western Brazilian Amazon Basin. Soil Biol Biochem 27:1167–1175

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Neill C, Piccolo MC, Melillo JM, Steudler PA, Cerri CC (1999) Nitrogen dynamics in Amazon forest and pasture soils measured by 15N pool dilution. Soil Biol Biochem 31:567–572

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Papen H, von Berg R (1998) A most probable number (MPN) for the estimation of cell numbers of heterotrophic nitrifying bacteria in soil. Plant Soil 199:123–130

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Papen H, von Berg R, Hellmann B, Rennenberg H (1991) The effect of experimental acid precipitation and liming on chemolithotropic and heterotrophic nitrification in soils of the Höglwald forest. Forstwiss Forsch 39:111–116

    Google Scholar 

  • Pett-Ridge J, Silver WL, Firestone MK (2006) Redox fluctuations frame microbial community impacts on N-cycling rates in a humid tropical forest soil. Biogeochemistry 81:95–110

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rhoades CC, Coleman DC (1999) Nitrogen mineralization and nitrification following land conversion in montane Ecuador. Soil Biol Biochem 31:1347–1354

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenkranz P, Brüggemann N, Papen H, Xu Z, Horvát L, Butterbach-Bahl K (2006) Soil N and C trace gas fluxes and microbial soil N turnover in a sessile oak (Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.) forest in Hungary. Plant Soil 285:301–322

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ross DS, Lawrence GB, Fredriksen G (2004) Mineralization and nitrification patterns at eight northeastern USA forested research sites. For Ecol Manag 188:317–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silver WL, Herman DJ, Firestone MK (2001) Dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium in upland tropical forest soils. Ecology 82:2410–2416

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silver WL, Thompson AW, Reich A, Ewel JJ, Firestone MK (2005) Nitrogen cycling in tropical plantation forests: potential controls on nitrogen retention. Ecol Appl 15:1604–1614

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spain AV, Unwin G, Sinclair DF (1989) Soils and vegetation at three rainforest sites in tropical north-eastern Queensland. Division Report 15, Division of Soils, CSIRO, Melbourne

  • Stark JM, Hart SC (1997) High rates of nitrification and nitrate turnover in undisturbed coniferous forests. Nature 385:61–64

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens RJ, Laughlin RJ, Burns LC, Arah JRM, Hood RC (1997) Measuring the contributions of nitrification and denitrification to the flux of nitrous oxide from soil. Soil Biol Biochem 29:139–151

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tracey JG (1982) The vegetation of the humid tropical region of North Queensland. CSIRO, Melbourne

    Google Scholar 

  • Verchot LV, Holmes Z, Mulon L, Groffman PM, Lovett GM (2001) Gross vs net rates of N mineralization and nitrification as indicators of functional differences between forest types. Soil Biol Biochem 33:1889–1901

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vitousek PM, Sanford RL Jr (1986) Nutrient cycling in moist tropical forest. Ann Rev Ecolog Syt 17:137–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) under contract BU 1173-2 and BU 1173-3. We thank the staff of the Tropical Forest Research Centre (CSRIO) Atherton, Australia for their logistic support with the laboratory work, Spiro Buhagiar and Jex Healey from the Bellenden Ker Cable car Inc. for the support at the field site and Dr. Ursula Berger for extensive help with cell number enumeration.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Department for Atmospheric Environmental Research, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe GmbH, Kreuzeckbahnstr. 19, D-82467, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

    Ralf Kiese & Klaus Butterbach-Bahl

  2. Tropical Forest Research Center, CSIRO, Maunds Road, Atherton, 4883, Queensland, Australia

    Bob Hewett

Authors
  1. Ralf Kiese
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Bob Hewett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Klaus Butterbach-Bahl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ralf Kiese.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: U. Skiba.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kiese, R., Hewett, B. & Butterbach-Bahl, K. Seasonal dynamic of gross nitrification and N2O emission at two tropical rainforest sites in Queensland, Australia. Plant Soil 309, 105–117 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-007-9468-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-007-9468-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation