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Estimating Net Nitrogen Mineralization from Carbon Dioxide Evolution¹

ABSTRACT

The ability to estimate net N mineralization from C decomposition data has the potential to improve our understanding of N dynamics in soil systems. It was the objective of this study to study this relationship using substrates with varying decomposition rates and C/N ratios. Five substrates including sewage sludge, alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), clover (Trifolium sp.), bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] and ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) were incubated in Crowley silt loam (Typic Albaqualfs) or Captina silt loam (Typic Fragiudults) soil at known soil temperatures and moistures. Concurrent CO₂ evolution and soil inorganic N concentrations were measured periodically. A significant linear relationship between N mineralization and CO₂ evolution was found experimentally for each substrate. A computer simulation model was developed which used first order kinetics for conversion of substrate C to CO₂. Substrate C mineralization rate constants, substrate C/N ratios and microbial efficiency were primary inputs, while substrate, biomass, and soil organic matter were the major compartments of the model. Microbial efficiency was defined for any C pool undergoing decomposition as the ratio of assimilated C to assimilated C plus dissimilated C. An important feature of the approach was the introduction of a fraction with a C/N ratio of protein that decomposed very rapidly for those substrates where initial N mineralization was large while CO₂ evolution was small. Model predictions of both CO₂ evolution and net N mineralization were in good agreement with experimental results.

¹ Published with the approval of the Director of the Univ. of Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station.

² Professor, Research Assistant, and former Graduate Student, respectively. Dep. of Agronomy, Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701.

Received for publication February 22, 1985. Accepted for publication June 21, 1985.

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