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Nitrogen Release from Urea and Sulfur‐coated Urea in Jack Pine Forest Humus
Author(s) -
Foster N. W.,
Beauchamp E. G.
Publication year - 1986
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/sssaj1986.03615995005000010043x
Subject(s) - urea , humus , fertilizer , chemistry , zoology , ammonia volatilization from urea , nitrogen , sulfur , volatilisation , pinus <genus> , environmental chemistry , botany , soil water , ecology , biology , biochemistry , organic chemistry
Urea and sulfur‐coated urea (SU) were each applied in the spring at a rate equivalent to 200 kg N ha −1 to a separate set of replicated 1‐m 2 plots in a 50‐yr‐old boreal jack pine ( Pinus banksiana Lamb.) forest. Fertilizer N recovery in L, F, and H horizons was determined periodically over 4 yr. Urea was completely hydrolyzed in soil within 10 d, whereas incompletely dissolved SU pellets, containing N equivalent to approximately 10% of the amount added, were recovered from the humus horizons 447 d after fertilization. In urea‐treated humus, NH + 4 ‐N concentrations significantly greater than those in controls were observed for 57 d. In SU‐treated humus, NH + 4 ‐N concentrations significantly greater than those in a control were maintained for 477, 336, and 115 d in L, F, and H horizons, respectively. Initial (3 d) NH 3 volatilization from SU‐treated soil was only 17% of that observed in the urea treatment, presumably because slower release from SU granules resulted in lowere initial pH increases in L and F horizons.