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Nitrogen Transformations under Zero and Shallow Tillage
Author(s) -
Carter M. R.,
Rennie D. A.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1984.03615995004800050025x
Subject(s) - mineralization (soil science) , tillage , organic matter , nitrogen cycle , agronomy , conventional tillage , fertilizer , nitrogen , growing season , biomass (ecology) , urea , soil water , environmental science , chemistry , zoology , soil science , biology , organic chemistry
A field study was conducted with the objective of determining if differences occur in soil N transformations between zero and conventional tillage systems. Tillage comparisons of 2, 4, 12, and 16 yr duration were studied at four locations on Chernozemic soils in Western Canada. Determination of mineral N levels and immobilization of 15 N‐urea fertilizer indicated that only slight, periodic, transient differences occurred between tillage systems. The degree of N mineralization‐immobilization turnover, which was associated with the incorporation of crop residues and level of labile organic matter in the surface soil, was not markedly affected by tillage differences. Over the growing season, fertilizer N entering the nonmicrobial biomass organic N pool increased relative to the microbial biomass pool, suggesting that in both systems N was entering more stabilized forms of organic N over time. These results would suggest that the differences in tillage system did not cause marked changes in the soil N cycle.