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Soil nitrogen. III. —Mineralizable nitrogen determined by an incubation technique
Author(s) -
Cooke G. W.,
Cunningham R. K.
Publication year - 1958
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.2740090602
Subject(s) - soil water , nitrogen , incubation , nitrate , chemistry , ammonium , moisture , ammonium nitrate , incubation period , environmental chemistry , agronomy , zoology , nitrogen cycle , soil science , environmental science , biology , biochemistry , organic chemistry
‘Mineralizable‐N’ values were determined by incubating at 18° a series of 27 soils of medium and heavy textures at 50% of their moisture‐holding capacity for 30 days. Increases in nitrate levels following incubation of soils which had been previously air‐dried were, on average, three times as great as increases given by incubating corresponding freshly‐sampled soils. In all soils the levels of nitrate and total mineral nitrogen increased appreciably on incubation; corresponding changes in ammonium levels were smaller, were irregular and were not related to other soil characteristics. Increases in nitrate and in total inorganic nitrogen on incubating air‐dried soils were approximately related to the initial levels of nitrate present in the soils when they were sampled, and to their percentages of total nitrogen.