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Effects of gamma radiation on accumulation of mineral nitrogen in fresh soils
Author(s) -
Cawse P. A.
Publication year - 1968
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.2740190711
Subject(s) - nitrification , nitrate , soil water , chemistry , nitrite , ammonium , nitrogen , nitrifying bacteria , environmental chemistry , irradiation , ammonium nitrate , population , bacteria , radiochemistry , horticulture , botany , biology , ecology , physics , demography , organic chemistry , sociology , nuclear physics , genetics
Increases in mineral nitrogen in gamma‐irradiated soils have been investigated in relation to dose over the range 0.05‐3 Mrad, especially with regard to formation of nitrate. All soils showed a significant increase in nitrate‐N after irradiation, but the response was much greater in the most organic series and reached a maximum after 0.4 Mrad; it was followed by a rise in nitrite at 0.6 Mrad. The amount of radiation that gave maximum accumulation of nitrate‐N varied between soils, probably owing to differences in the surviving population of nitrifying bacteria. Perfusion of soil with ammonium ions showed that rapid nitrification after doses greater than 0.1 Mrad was most likely to result from oxidation by non‐proliferating cells of the nitrifying bacteria rather than increased proliferation of the survivors.