Effect of different soil cultivation systems, including no-tillage, on electro-ultrafiltration extractable organic nitrogen
The effect of different long-term soil-cultivation systems (ploughing, two types of cultivator, notillage) on organic N, extracted with the electroultrafiltration (EUF) technique, was studied in two arable soils, a Luvic Phaeozem derived from loess and a Eutric Cambisol. A modified EUF extraction procedure (the 80°C fraction extended from 5 to 90 min) was used to investigate the release of organic N from the ploughing and no-tillage treatment, and the content of hydrolysable N was measured in the combined filtrates. No-tillage and the two non-turning cultivation systems led to an accumulation of EUF organic N in the 0- to 10-cm depth compared to the ploughing treatment. In the lower horizon (15–25 cm) the reverse pattern was found in the loamy soil, with higher concentrations after ploughing than after reduced tillage. However, in the sandy soil all four cultivation treatments showed similar values in the 15- to 25-cm depth. During the time of investigation (May 1987 to February 1989) an EUF organic N accumulation occurred, which was about twice as high in the loamy as in the sandy soil. Therefore we conclude that in the sandy soil the mineralization of organic N was faster, and that reduced tillage retarded its degradation. In the total 0- to 25-cm depth, this delay was not observed in the loamy soil. The N release rates were much lower in the sandy than in the loamy soil and they were higher for the notillage than for the ploughing treatment. Only 30–40% of the total organic N desorbed was hydrolysable and the amino acid composition indicates that part of it originated from microbial Cells. The overall evaluation showed clearly that EUF-extractable organic N is a sitespecific factor.
Extractability of 15N-labeled corn-shoot tissue in a sandy and a clay soil by 0.01 MCaCl2 method in laboratory incubation experiments
Management of N fertilization depends not only on the mineral N measured at the beginning of the growing season but also on the status of the low-molecular-weight organic-N fraction. Our study was conducted to analyze how much of the 15N applied in labeled cornshoot tissue would be recovered in 0.01 M CaCl2-extractable 15N fractions and wheter a decrease in the CaCl2-extractable 15N fraction quantitatively followed the trend in net mineralization of the 15N applied in corn-shoot tissue during an incubation period. The effects of adding 15N-labeled young corn-shoot tissue to a sandy soil and a clay soil were investigated for 46 days in an aerobic incubation experiment at 25°C. The application of 80 mg N kg-1 soil in the form of labeled corn-shoot tissue (24.62 mg 15N kg-1 soil) resulted in a significant initial increase, followed by a decrease the labeled organic-N fraction in comparison with the untreated soils during the incubation. The labeled organic-N fraction was significantly higher in the sandy soil than in the clay soil until the 4th day of incubation. The decrease in labeled organic N in the sandy soil resulted in a subsequent increase in 15NOinf3sup-during the incubation. Ammonification of applied plant N resulted in a significant increase in the 1 M HCl-extractable non-exchangeable 15NHinf4sup+fraction in the clay soik, owing to the vermiculite content. The 15N recovery was analyzed by the 0.01 M CaCl2 extraction method; at the beginning of the incubation experiment, recovery was 37.0% in the sandy soil and 36.7% in the clay soil. After 46 days of incubation, recovery increased to 47.2 and 43.8% in the sandy and clay soils, respectively. Net mineralization of the 15N applied in corn-shoot tissue determined after the 46-day incubation was 6.60 mg 15N kg-1 soil (=34.9% of the applied organic 15N) and 4.37 mg 15N kg-1 soil (=23.1% of the applied organic 15N) in the sandy and the clay soils, respectively. The decrease in the labeled organic-N fraction extracted by 0.01 M CaCl2 over the whole incubation period was 3.14 and 2.33 mg 15N kg-1 soil in the sandy and clay soil, respectively. These results indicate that net mineralization of 15N was not consistent with the decrease in the labeled organic-N fraction. This may have been due to the inability of 0.01 M CaCl2 to extract or desorb all of the applied organic 15N that was mineralized during the incubation period.
Application of the EUF procedure in sugar beet cultivation
SummaryThe relationship between the EUF-nutrient fractions in the soil on the one hand and the nutrient uptake of sugar beet as well as root yield and quality (polarization, α-amino N etc.) on the other is described on the basis of results obtained over several years in surveys conducted in farmers' fields (5000–6000 fields under sugar beet per year) and in field experiments (25–35 sites per year).Statistically significant close correlations with the respective parameters were found for the following EUF nutrient fractions: EUF-NO3, EUF-P, EUF-K, EUF-Na, EUF-B and EUF-Mn.Within five years it was possible to determine the EUF-nutrient values which are required for the production of 9 t sugar/ha. These EUF values are the following: Ca: 65–70 mg/100 g at 20°C K: 11–15 mg/100 g at 20°C (depending on the clay content) Mg: 3–5 mg/100 g at 20°C Na: 2–3 mg/100 g at 20°C P: 1.4–1.6 mg/100 g at 20°CFor calculation of the N fertilizer requirements of sugar beet it is suggested to use the sum of the EUF-extractable N amounts. It was found in Austria, Yugoslavia and Denmark over a period of 3 years that the EUF-N value of 1 mg/100 g soil determined between June and September was equivalent to 40 kg N/ha. If, for example, the analysed soil contains 3 mg EUF-N/100 g, 3×40=120 kg N/ha will be available to the sugar beet crop in the following year.