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Flooded paddy soil ecosystems in the tropics support the cultivation of the majority of the world’s leading crop, rice, and nitrogen (N) availability in the paddy-soil rooting zone limits rice production more than any other nutritional factor. Yet, little is known about the dynamic response of paddy soil to N-fertiliser application, in terms of horizontal and vertical patchiness in N distribution and transformation. Here, we present a microscale analysis of the profile of ammonium (NH 4  + ) and nitrate (NO 3  − ), nitrification, oxygen (O 2water  and O 2soil ), and pH (pH water  and pH soil ) in paddy soils, collected from two representative rice-production areas in subtropical China. NH 4  +  and NO 3  −  exhibited dramatic spatiotemporal profiles within N patches on the microscale. We show that pH soil  became constant at 1.0–3.5 mm depth, and O 2soil  became undetectable at 1.7–4.0 mm. Fertiliser application significantly increased pH, and decreased O 2 , within N patches. Path analysis showed that the factors governing nitrification scaled in the order: pH water  > pH soil  > NH 4  +  > O 2water  > NO 3  −  > O 2soil . We discuss the soil properties that decide the degree of nutrient patchiness within them and argue that such knowledge is critical to intelligent appraisals of nutrient-use efficiencies in the field.

Microprofiling of nitrogen patches in paddy soil: Analysis of spatiotemporal nutrient heterogeneity at the microscale