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Temporal Patterns of Soil Denitrification: Their Stability and Causes
Author(s) -
Christensen Søren,
Simkins Stephen,
Tiedje James M.
Publication year - 1990
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/sssaj1990.03615995005400060017x
Subject(s) - denitrification , loam , environmental science , soil water , soil respiration , chemistry , organic matter , environmental chemistry , soil science , nitrogen , organic chemistry
The temporal stability of denitrification activity was assessed by monitoring N 2 O production in 30 rings installed in an acid sandy loam soil in which N 2 O was the only gaseous product of denitrification. When soil water was kept at field capacity or above, in the absence of NO 3 limitation, some locations showed high denitrification compared with the average activity. These high‐activity locations persisted for up to several weeks. The ranking of locations with respect to denitrification rates was more stable over time than would have been expected due to chance alone. Additions of particulate organic matter (POM) that stimulated denitrification within 2 h in anaerobic soil slurries did not increase denitrification until 5 d after addition to soil cores. The increase in denitrification was preceded by an increase in respiration. The denitrification activity within the “hot spots” created by addition of POM was not limited by diffusion of NO 3 in the soil. The addition of glucose 9 d before the injection of POM into field rings reduced the lag time preceding increased denitrification. Therefore, the delayed response of denitrification following POM addition in aerobic soil probably reflects the time required to establish an anaerobic soil volume.