The non-recoverable phosphorus following sorption onto a Brazilian Ultisol

Phosphorus (P) immobilization in soil involves geochemical (e.g., sorption, precipitation, and diffusion) and microbiological (microbial uptake) processes. Using a Brazilian Ultisol, relative contributions of both processes to the total immobilization of applied P over 14 days were investigated. The P immobilized by microbes as interpreted by microbial suppression (achieved by mercury sterilization) was 17, 50, 54, and 56% (of the total immobilized P) on days 3, 7, 10, and 14 after fertilization, respectively. In the short-term (1 to 3 days), microbes played less of a role than did the physical effect of shaking the soil, but became the major factor by days 7 to 14. Geochemical process that might be considered short-term ageing caused only 13–16% of the total immobilization in the same time period above. Calculations supported the interpretation that measurable diffusion occurred across water films on the soil particles.     

Cutting regime determines allocation of fixed nitrogen in white clover

Leguminous leys are important sources of nitrogen (N), especially in forage-based animal production and organic cropping. Models for estimating total N₂ fixation of leys—including below-ground plant-derived N (BGN)—are based on grazed or harvested leys. However, green manure leys can have different proportions of above-ground plant-derived N (AGN) and BGN when subjected to different cutting regimes. To investigate the effects of cutting on N distribution in white clover, a pot experiment was carried out using ¹⁵N techniques to determine N₂ fixation, N rhizodeposition and root C and N content of cut and uncut white clover (Trifolium repens L. cv. Ramona) plants. Percentage N derived from air (%Ndfa) was lower in uncut (63%) than in cut (72%) plants, but total Ndfa was not significantly affected by cutting. The higher reliance on N₂ fixation in cut plants was thus counterbalanced by lower biomass and total N content. With BGN taken into account, total plant-derived N increased by approximately 50% compared with AGN only. Cutting did not affect the proportion of BGN to standing shoot biomass N after regrowth, but decreased the proportion of BGN to total shoot biomass production during the entire growth period. Thus, estimates of N fixation in green manure leys should consider management practices such as cutting regime, as this can result in differences in above- and below-ground proportions of plant-derived N.     

Influence of non-cellulose structural carbohydrate composition on plant material decomposition in soil

The C mineralisation pattern during the early stage of decomposition of plant materials is largely determined by their content of different carbohydrates. This study investigated whether detailed plant analysis could provide a better prediction of C mineralisation during decomposition than proximate analysis [neutral detergent solution (NDF)/acid detergent solution (ADF)]. The detailed analysis included sugars, fructans, starch, pectin, cellulose, lignin and organic N. To determine whether differences in decomposition rate were related to differences in hemicellulose composition, the analysis particularly emphasised the concentrations of arabinose and xylose in hemicelluloses. Carbon dioxide evolution was monitored hourly in soil amended with ten different plant materials. Principal component and regression analysis showed that C mineralisation during day 1 was closely related to free sugars, fructans and soluble organic N components (R ² = 0.83). The sum of non-cellulose structural carbohydrates (intermediate NDF/ADF fraction) was not related to C mineralisation between days 1 and 9. In contrast, a model including starch and protein in addition to the non-cellulose structural carbohydrates, with the hemicelluloses replaced by arabinose and xylose, showed a strong relationship with evolved CO₂ (R ² = 0.87). Carbon mineralisation between days 9 and 34 was better explained by xylan, cellulose and lignin (R ² = 0.72) than by lignocellulose in the ADF fraction. Our results indicated that proximate analyses were not sufficient to explain differences in decomposition. To predict C mineralisation from the range of plant materials studied, we propose a minimum set of analyses comprising total N, free sugars, starch, arabinose, xylan, cellulose and lignin.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Achromobacter insolitus</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Zoogloea ramigera</Emphasis> associated with wheat plants (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Triticum aestivum</Emphasis>)

This study reports for the first time the presence of diazotrophic bacteria belonging to the genera Achromobacter and Zoogloea associated with wheat plants. These bacterial strains were identified by the analysis of 16S rDNA sequences. The bacterium IAC-AT-8 was identified as Azospirillum brasiliense, whereas isolates IAC-HT-11 and IAC-HT-12 were identified as Achromobacter insolitus and Zoogloea ramigera, respectively. A greenhouse experiment involving a non-sterilized soil was carried out with the aim to study the endophytic feature of these strains. After 40 days from inoculation, all the strains were in the inner of roots, but they were not detected in soil. In order to assess the location inside wheat plants, an experiment was conducted under axenic conditions. Fifteen days after inoculation, preparations of inoculated plants were observed by the scanning electron microscope, using the cryofracture technique, and by the transmission electron microscope. It was observed that all isolates were present on the external part of the roots and in the inner part at the elongation region, in cortex cells, but not in the endodermis or in the vascular bundle region. No colonizing bacterial cells were observed in wheat leaves.     

Earthworm (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Metaphire guillelmi</Emphasis>) effects on rice photosynthates distribution in the plant–soil system

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of earthworm (Metaphire guillelmi) activities on rice photosynthates distribution in plant–soil system through ¹⁴C pulse-labelling method. Rice was planted in pots, and maize straw was mulched on the surface with or without earthworms. Rice plants at tillering stage or heading stage were labelled with ¹⁴CO₂. Plant and soil were sampled 15 days after labelling at the tillering or heading stage and at harvest. Rice growth was inhibited by earthworms (M. guillelmi) at early stage, but the inhibition disappeared at later stage. Earthworms significantly (P < 0.01) increased the ¹⁴C percentage in root at day 15 after tillering stage labelling, but the effect disappeared at harvest. Earthworms (M. guillelmi) significantly (P < 0.01) increased the ¹⁴C percentage in root at day 15 after heading stage labelling and increased ¹⁴C percentage in soil at harvest. Earthworms decreased the percentages of total organic ¹⁴C (TO¹⁴C) present as microbial biomass ¹⁴C (MB¹⁴C) and increased the percentages of total organic ¹⁴C present as dissolved organic ¹⁴C (DO¹⁴C) at all sampling times. It is suggested that earthworms might alter the transfer of plant photosynthates from the aboveground to the belowground, and thus, soil active C pool. However, these data should be also confirmed in the field.     

Nematode diversity,food web condition,and chemical and physical properties in different soil habitats of an organic farm

The aim of this paper was to assess biodiversity among different habitats of an organic farm and the relationships between some soil properties, nematode taxonomic diversity, and soil food web condition. Eight habitats were studied in the farm: ponds, ditches, a riparian corridor, hedgerows, and four agricultural fields (mustard, oats, fallow, and legumes). The undisturbed riparian corridor had higher soil and concentrations, and potentially mineralizable N and higher abundances of bacterivore nematodes and longer food webs. Canonical correlation analysis showed associations between habitats and nematode trophic groups: predatory and bacterial-feeding nematodes in the riparian corridor and hedgerows, omnivore nematodes in the ponds and ditches, and fungal-feeding nematodes in the legume field. Soil chemical and physical properties mirrored the aboveground farm patterns and were more similar among habitats that were or had been cultivated, compared to the riparian corridor. Soil food web indices, based on functional analysis of nematode faunal composition, reflected the aboveground landscape heterogeneity. Discriminant analysis indicated that soil food web indices separated the two most disturbed habitats (ponds and tailwater ditches) from the two least disturbed habitats (the riparian corridor and hedgerows). The indices correlated with soil functioning as inferred by soil properties. Abundance of nematode taxa was not associated with aboveground landscape patterns. The complexity of the soil food web may have been influenced by (1) environmental factors that differed between years, (2) different time periods since disturbance in the various habitats, and (3) movement of nutrients and organisms by water flow between habitats in the farmscale.     

Soil compaction and forest floor removal reduced microbial biomass and enzyme activities in a boreal aspen forest soil

Soil enzymes are linked to microbial functions and nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems and are considered sensitive to soil disturbances. We investigated the effects of severe soil compaction and whole-tree harvesting plus forest floor removal (referred to as FFR below, compared with stem-only harvesting) on available N, microbial biomass C (MBC), microbial biomass N (MBN), and microbial biomass P (MBP), and dehydrogenase, protease, and phosphatase activities in the forest floor and 0–10 cm mineral soil in a boreal aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) forest soil near Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada. In the forest floor, no soil compaction effects were observed for any of the soil microbial or enzyme activity parameters measured. In the mineral soil, compaction reduced available N, MBP, and acid phosphatase by 53, 47, and 48%, respectively, when forest floor was intact, and protease and alkaline phosphatase activities by 28 and 27%, respectively, regardless of FFR. Forest floor removal reduced available P, MBC, MBN, and protease and alkaline phosphatase activities by 38, 46, 49, 25, and 45%, respectively, regardless of soil compaction, and available N, MBP, and acid phosphatase activity by 52, 50, and 39%, respectively, in the noncompacted soil. Neither soil compaction nor FFR affected dehydrogenase activities. Reductions in microbial biomass and protease and phosphatase activities after compaction and FFR likely led to the reduced N and P availabilities in the soil. Our results indicate that microbial biomass and enzyme activities were sensitive to soil compaction and FFR and that such disturbances had negative consequences for forest soil N and P cycling and fertility.     

In situ ion exchange resin membrane (IEM) technique to measure soil mineral nitrogen dynamics in grazed pastures

This paper explored the potential of application of in situ ion exchange resin membrane (IEM) technique for assessing soil nitrogen (N) availability and spatial distribution in New Zealand grazed pastures. Field and incubation experiments conducted to test the technique proved IEM technique to be a useful approach to monitoring the continuous changes in soil mineral N in pasture soils. The field testing showed that the IEM technique reflects both differences in pool size and mineral N flux, while 2-M KCl extraction reflects only pool size at the sampling. Testing the effects of residence time, temperature, soil inorganic N content, and soil water content through diffusion modeling offers further support for using IEM to explore the complex dynamics of nitrogen availability in pasture soils.     

Salinity and sodicity effects on respiration and microbial biomass of soil

An understanding of the effects of salinity and sodicity on soil carbon (C) stocks and fluxes is critical in environmental management, as the areal extents of salinity and sodicity are predicted to increase. The effects of salinity and sodicity on the soil microbial biomass (SMB) and soil respiration were assessed over 12weeks under controlled conditions by subjecting disturbed soil samples from a vegetated soil profile to leaching with one of six salt solutions; a combination of low-salinity (0.5dSm⁻¹), mid-salinity (10dSm⁻¹), or high-salinity (30dSm⁻¹), with either low-sodicity (sodium adsorption ratio, SAR, 1), or high-sodicity (SAR 30) to give six treatments: control (low-salinity low-sodicity); low-salinity high-sodicity; mid-salinity low-sodicity; mid-salinity high-sodicity; high-salinity low-sodicity; and high-salinity high-sodicity. Soil respiration rate was highest (56–80mg CO₂-C kg⁻¹ soil) in the low-salinity treatments and lowest (1–5mg CO₂-C kg⁻¹ soil) in the mid-salinity treatments, while the SMB was highest in the high-salinity treatments (459–565mg kg⁻¹ soil) and lowest in the low-salinity treatments (158–172mg kg⁻¹ soil). This was attributed to increased substrate availability with high salt concentrations through either increased dispersion of soil aggregates or dissolution or hydrolysis of soil organic matter, which may offset some of the stresses placed on the microbial population from high salt concentrations. The apparent disparity in trends in respiration and the SMB may be due to an induced shift in the microbial population, from one dominated by more active microorganisms to one dominated by less active microorganisms.     

Experimental snowpack reduction alters organic matter and net N mineralization potential of soil macroaggregates in a northern hardwood forest

Climate change is predicted to reduce or delay annual wintertime snow pack formation in the forests of the northeastern US. Any delay in snowpack formation could increase soil freezing in winter and, thereby, alter soil characteristics and processes. We examined the hypothesis that delayed snowpack would disrupt soil structure and change organic matter bioavailability in an experimental snow removal study at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF), NH, USA. Pairs of reference and snow removal treatment plots were studied in four different sites at HBEF. Snow was removed from November–January of two winters, inducing soil freezing throughout both winters. Size class distribution and organic matter concentration and content of aggregates, and carbon and nitrogen mineralization potential of size fractions were quantified for surface mineral soils in the spring of both years immediately after snowmelt. In the first year of sampling, the only significant effect of snow removal was an increase in the smallest (<53 μm) size fraction of mineral soil. In the second year, snow removal increased organic matter concentrations of macroaggregate (250–2,000 μm) and microaggregate (53–250 μm) size fractions. This change corresponded to an increase in net N mineralization potential and the ratio of N to C mineralized in the macroaggregate fraction, but there were no effects of snow removal on C mineralization. We propose that soil freezing increases the movement of organic matter from organic to mineral soil horizons and increases the N content of mineralizable substrates in mineral soil following years with delayed snowpack formation.