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Incorporation of N from burnt and unburnt 15N grass residues into the peptidic fraction of fire affected and unaffected soils

  • Soils, Sec 1 • Soil Organic Matter Dynamics and Nutrient Cycling • Research Article
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

To reveal if the input of pyrogenic organic matter (PyOM) affects the nitrogen (N) cycling in soil and its N can be used for the synthesis of microbial biomass, we investigated the incorporation of 15N from 15N-enriched grass residues (OM) or their PyOM into extractable amino acids (AAs) of soil organic matter (SOM) from an unburnt and a burnt soil amended with those residues.

Materials and methods

Pots seeded with Lolium perenne and filled with soil from a burnt and an unburnt Cambisol from southern Spain were topped either with 15N-enriched grass residues (15N-OM), its 15N-PyOM, mixtures of KNO3 (Ni) and 15N-OM or 15N-PyOM, as well as K15NO3 mixed with non-enriched OM or PyOM. After incubation of the pots for up to 16 months under controlled conditions, the AAs, extracted from the litter-free soil, were quantified by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The fate of the added 15N (15Nadd) was followed by isotopic ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) and analyzed by statistical means.

Results and discussion

The contribution of extractable AAs to SOM of the non-amended burnt soil was twice of that for the unburnt soil. After amendment, their yields and the percentage of 15Nadd recovered in AAs were always higher for the burnt soil. Stabilization of proteinaceous residues during the incubation was indicated. Already after 2 weeks, 15Nadd from 15N-PyOM was recovered within the AAs.

Conclusions

Our experiment confirmed that N from PyOM is incorporated into the peptidic fraction of SOM of post-fire soils. The efficiency of this incorporation is not altered by the presence of Ni and vice versa. We demonstrated further a short-term and medium-term impact of fire on N cycling in soils, expressed by alteration of the contribution of acid-extractable AAs to the soil organic N (SON) pool.

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Acknowledgements

The Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) de España and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) are acknowledged for financial support of the project (CGL2009-10557). The MINECO is also gratefully acknowledged for providing the Formación de Professional Investigator (FPI) grant (BES-2010-42581) and the International Humic Substance Society for donating the IHSS Training Award to the senior author. The Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ is thanked for hosting the awardee. We also thank Ursula Günther and Matthias Gehre (UFZ, Department of Isotope Biogeochemistry) for their help with the compound specific isotope analysis of the amino acids.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla—CSIC, Av. Reina Mercedes 10, 41012, Sevilla, Spain

    María López-Martín & Heike Knicker

  2. Department of Environmental Biotechnology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research—UFZ, Permoserstraβe 15, 04318, Leipzig, Germany

    Karolina M. Nowak & Anja Milter

Authors
  1. María López-Martín
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  2. Karolina M. Nowak
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  3. Anja Milter
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  4. Heike Knicker
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Correspondence to María López-Martín.

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Responsible editor: Zucong Cai

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López-Martín, M., Nowak, K.M., Milter, A. et al. Incorporation of N from burnt and unburnt 15N grass residues into the peptidic fraction of fire affected and unaffected soils. J Soils Sediments 17, 1554–1564 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-016-1624-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-016-1624-x

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