Decrease in soil microbial activity and biomasses owing to nitrogen amendments
Author
Summary, in English
Microbial biomass and soil respiration rate decreased after application of 150 kg NH4NO3–N∙ha−1 to different coniferous forest podzols. The decrease was already found 3 months after fertilization and was still evident after 3–5 years. Changes in pH, organic matter, or water content in the soils could not explain the decreases. In laboratory experiments, several unfertilized forest soils were treated with 2 mg of NH4NO3–N or of urea–nitrogen∙g wet soil−1. The ammonium nitrate addition resulted in severe depressions of the respiration rates during and up to 175 days of incubation and the decrease was evident after about 1 week. The urea treatment initially increased the respiration rate of the soils, but this appeared to be a transitory effect.
Department/s
Publishing year
1983
Language
English
Pages
1500-1506
Publication/Series
Canadian Journal of Microbiology
Volume
29
Issue
11
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
National Research Council Canada
Topic
- Biological Sciences
Status
Published
Research group
- Microbial Ecology
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0008-4166