Abstract
Peatland soils contain large amounts of nitrogen (N) in the soil and mineralization can contribute substantially to the annual mineral N supply of grasslands. We investigated the contribution of N mineralization from peat with respect to the total annual N uptake on grasslands with anthropogenic A horizons and submerged tile drains. The study included i) a pot experiment to determine potential N mineralization from the topsoil and the subsoil, ii) a 1-year field experiment to study herbage yields and N uptake under fertilized and non-fertilized conditions and iii) a 3-year field study where herbage yield and N uptake from the top 30 cm and the entire soil profile were monitored. The 3-year field study yielded an average N uptake of 342 kg ha−1 under non-fertilized conditions but the contribution of subsoil peat N mineralization to the total N uptake was found to be negligible. Our calculations demonstrate that peat N mineralization contributed only 10% to 30% to the total N-uptake, mainly coming from the top 30 cm. Most of the N uptake under unfertilized conditions appears to be largely the result of mineralization from long-term inputs of dung, ditch sludge, farmyard manure, cow slurry and non-harvested herbage.
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Acknowledgments
Bram te Brake and Frans Bakker are acknowledged for their contribution in the analyses and field work. The authors want to express their gratitude to farmer Spruit for cooperation during the field experiments. Jacques Neeteson (Plant Research International) helped us by proof-reading a previous version of this paper.
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Sonneveld, M.P.W., Lantinga, E.A. The contribution of mineralization to grassland N uptake on peatland soils with anthropogenic A horizons. Plant Soil 340, 357–368 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0608-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0608-7