Isotope 15N enrichment of soil-ammonium N as a reference to estimate N2 fixation by stem and root-inoculated S. rostrata

Summary A pot experiment in the greenhouse was conducted to compare the contribution of N derived from the atmosphere or from biological N₂ fixation by Sesbania rostrata inoculated with Azorhizobium caulinodans, applied either to roots or to roots and stems (single or multiple stem inoculation). Two subsequent crops were grown for 50 days under flooded conditions. N derived from air was estimated by ¹⁵N dilution using ¹⁵N enrichment of soil NH _inf4 ^sup+ -N and of Echinochloa crusgalli as the non-N₂-fixing reference datum and compared with estimates obtained by the N-difference method. The first crop was grown to stabilize the ¹⁵N into the soil organic N fraction. The ¹⁵N enrichment of soil NH _inf4 ^sup+ -N in the second crop declined slowly. The extractability ratio (¹⁵N enrichment of extractable soil N to ¹⁵N enrichment of total soil N) decreased from 4.8 to 4.1 50 days after planting. The enrichment of soil NH _inf4 ^sup+ -N was comparable to that of E. crus-galli, resulting in similar estimates of N derived from air when either soil NH _inf4 ^sup+ -N or enrichment of E. crus-galli was used as a non-fixing reference. The N-difference method did not always provide reliable estimates of N derived from air; percentages ranged from 75 to more than 80 by 50 days after planting in both crops and did not differ among treatments. The study demonstrates the potential of using ¹⁵N enrichment of soil NH _inf4 ^sup+ -N as a non-N₂-fixing reference for reliable BNF estimates of crops in lowland puddled soil.     

Effect of organic manures,crop residues and green manure (Sesbania aculeata) on nitrogen and phosphorus transformations in a sandy loam at field capacity and under waterlogged conditions

Summary The influence of the water regime on mineralization and immobilization of N and P was investigated in a calcareous sandy loam incubated with cattle, poultry and green manure (Sesbania aculeata), and wheat and rice straw in a pot experiment. At field capacity, N released from poultry and green manure during the first 4 weeks of incubation was 45% and 59%, respectively. During the next 12 weeks, only around 40% more organic N was mineralized from both sources. In contrast, addition of cattle manure resulted in a period of net N immobilization lasting up to 4 weeks. By the end of 16 weeks of incubation only about 19010 of the added N was mineralized. High rates of N immobilization were observed during the first 4 weeks of incubation of rice or wheat straw with C/N ratios of 78 and 85, respectively. The N mineralization kinetics of poultry and green manure and of untreated soil showed an initial fast reaction followed by a slow release of inorganic N and could be described by two simultaneous first-order reactions. Under waterlogged conditions mineralized N was lost simultaneously in significant amounts possibly through nitrification — denitrification reactions. At field capacity, the largest amount of Olsen P was accumulated in the soil amended with poultry manure, followed by cattle manure. Results from other treatments did not differ much from those of the untreated soil. About 15% of P from poultry manure was mineralized during the 1st week of incubation. In contrast to the field-capacity moisture regime, marked increases in Olsen P in the soils amended with green manure and crop residues were observed under water-logged conditions.     

Effects of legume green-manuring on nitrogen mineralization and some microbiological properties in an acid rice soil

We studied N mineralization of legume green manures under laboratory and field conditions, and the effects of field green-manuring on the microbiological properties of an acid Alfisol soil. No significant differences were found in the mineralization rates of Sesbania (Sesbania cannabina), sunnhemp (Crotalaria juncea), and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) green manure. Mineralization was higher in field-capacity moist soil than water-saturated soil. The decomposition of sunnhemp under field wetland conditions, in the absence of a rice crop, was a rapid as it was under in vitro conditions. The decomposition released considerable amounts of mineral N and the level of NH ₄ ⁺ -N was significantly higher than NO ₃ ^– -N. Significant improvements were observed in the microbial biomass, dehydrogenase activity, and bacterial populations in the field soil green-manured for rice for 3 years, compared with fertilized soil.     

Yield and nitrogen response of lowland rice (Oryza sativa L.) to Sesbania rostrata and Aeschynomene afraspera green manure in different marginally productive soils in the Philippines

Organic-N fertilizers in the form of flood-tolerant, leguminous, stem-nodulating Sesbania rostrata and Aeschynomene afraspera may be useful alternatives to resource-poor rice farmers if applied as green manure. Therefore, the accumulation of N by these green manure species and their effect on the performance and yield of wetland rice (IR 64) was examined at four different sites in Luzon, Philippines. Soils deficient in N, P, and K were selected and compared with the fertile Maahas clay of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) at Los Baños. The green manure plants were grown under flooded conditions for 49 days in the wet season of 1987, chopped, and then ploughed in before transplanting rice seedlings. In a second experiment, the effect of S. rostrata green manure was studied under rainfed conditions. All green manure treatments were compared to an urea treatment (60 kg N ha^–1) and an untreated control. Both legumes developed well, even on the marginally productive soils. S. rostrata accumulated up to 190 kg N ha^–1 and A. afraspera even accumulated 196 kg N ha^–1 in the shoots. In all treatments, green manure increased grain yield significantly (P=0.05) over the untreated control, by 1.3–1.7 Mg ha^–1. The yields were comparable to those obtained with 60 kg N ha^–1 of urea fertilizer. S. rostrata caused the highest grain yield, of 6.5 Mg ha^–1 on the Maahas clay soil of IRRI. The apparent release of exchangeable NH ₄ ⁺ -N in the soils after green manuring and the rice grain yield response showed that both green manure species may provide sufficient available N throughout the development of IR 64 in the wet season. In the rainfed marginal soil site, green manure with S. rostrata produced even higher rice grain yields than urea. Green manure therefore seems particularly attractive for poor farmers on marginally productive soils, at least as a temporary strategy to improve yield and yield sustainability.     

毛萼田菁茎瘤的形成和固氮活性的研究

毛萼田菁(S.rostrata)喜高温、高湿生态环境,在温度20℃以上、相对湿度70—80％的条件下生长迅速,植株可达3.5米以上。 毛萼田菁的茎瘤形成于茎上蛰伏的不定根发生点。当合适的根瘤菌从不定根发生点裂口入侵后,刺激不定根原基周围的皮层细胞分裂形成含菌组织而发育成茎瘤。茎瘤的固氮活性随茎瘤和其中类菌体的发育和衰败而升降。植株的共生固氮周期呈抛物线。茎瘤的固氮活性为根瘤的2.3倍,单株茎瘤的固氮量为根瘤的46倍。植物的光合作用对茎瘤的形成和固氮强度有决定性影响。在正常光照下发育的茎瘤的固氮活性约为包扎遮光下发育的茎瘤固氮活性的1.5倍。     

普通田菁的共生固氮特性

普通田菁(Sesbania cannabina)在苗龄10天左右主根开始结瘤,根瘤呈马蹄形至鸡冠状,深红,大小为0.5cm×1.0cm;苗龄65天,主根瘤开始衰败,苗龄35天侧根显瘤,侧根瘤多为球状,少数呈马蹄形,生长期长达80天以上。乙炔还原法测定表明:湿润和旱栽田菁根瘤固氮酶活性的变化比较一致,苗龄60～65天出现活性高峰,分别为16.45微克分子乙烯/株·小时和16.43微克分子乙烯/株·小时。在淹水条件下,固氨酶活性在苗龄,60～80天之间出现两个高峰,其峰值分别为19.91和14.51微克分子乙烯/株·小时。同时,比色测定的结果也表明。在不同的栽培条件下,根瘤豆血红蛋白含量的消长与固氮酶活性变化相一致。在适宜的栽培条件下,普通田菁的固氮周期可长达120天以上,湿润栽培下每季田菁的总固氮量估计可达13g/m~2。     

Uptake of 15N by wetland rice in response to application of 15N-labelled Sesbania rostrata and urea

 Pot experiments were carried out to evaluate the response of rice to Sesbania rostrata green manure N as compared to urea fertilizer N under flooded conditions. After growing S. rostrata for 21 days with a ¹⁵N-labelled N source, the labelled Sesbania was applied to wetland rice as a green manure and the uptake of ¹⁵N from this substrate was compared to that from labelled urea. Rice was cultivated twice in the same pots. The rice was grown for a period of 49 days in each case, separated by a period of 21 days when the soil was allowed to dry. The ¹⁵N content of the soil and shoots and roots of rice was determined and ¹⁵N balances established. The total N content of the shoots and roots of rice was determined by a non-tracer method. The percentage recovery of ¹⁵N from shoot material which was derived from urea N was more than twice that from S. rostrata. The recovery of ¹⁵N from the pots receiving both green manure and urea was low, and not significantly different from that recovered from the green manure treatment. As much as 64.5–73.5% and 40.1–41% of the ¹⁵N remained in the soil which had received green manure or urea, respectively. The overall recoveries of ¹⁵N varied between 86.5% and 94.4%. At the second harvest, the oven-dry weight of shoots was significantly (P<0.05) higher in green-manure treated pots, but the total N content did not differ significantly. Labelled N remaining in the soil after amendment with the green manure was much more available to the rice crop than that remaining after the addition of urea-N. The total recovery of labelled N (shoots plus roots) amounted to 65.5% and 74%, respectively of the residual labelled N in the two S. rostrata treatments (i.e. 19.55 mg ¹⁵N pot^–1 and 39.10 mg ¹⁵N pot^–1) and 23.2% and 23.2% of the residual labelled N in the two urea treatments (i.e. 19.55 mg ¹⁵N pot and 39.10 mg ¹⁵N pot^–1), respectively. Received: 8 December 1997     

Soil nitrogen availability as affected by fallow-maize systems on two soils in Kenya

Simple methods for the measurement of nitrogen (N) availability are needed to assess the effect of low-input, organically based land management systems on the N supply of tropical soils. Our objectives were to determine the effect of contrasting land-use systems (LUS) on soil N availability and to identify measures of N availability that correlated with maize (Zea mays L.) grain yield. The LUS at the two sites in Kenya involved growth of a maize crop following 17 months of either: (1) Sesbania sesban (L.) Merr. tree growth (sesbania fallow), (2) natural regrowth of vegetation without cultivation (natural fallow), (3) three crops of unfertilized maize (maize monoculture), or (4) bare uncultivated soil (bare fallow). Soil was collected before the post-fallow maize crop was sown. The LUS had no effect on total soil N or amount of N in the heavy fraction soil organic matter (SOM) (>150 μm, >1.37 Mg m^–3). Sesbania and natural fallows, as compared to maize monoculture, increased the N in light fraction SOM (>150 μm, <1.13Mgm^–3), N in intermediate fraction SOM (>150 μm, 1.13 to 1.37 Mg m^–3), ammonium-N and aerobic N mineralization at a depth of 0–15 cm. Maize yields were highest following the sesbania fallow. Nitrate-N, inorganic-N (ammonium plus nitrate) and anaerobic N mineralization correlated with maize grain yield at both sites. The relationship between maize yield and pre-season nitrate-N improved when the depth of soil sampling was increased to 1 m at one site (an Alfisol), but did not improve at the site with anion adsorption in the subsoil (an Oxisol). The sesbania fallow was more effective than the natural fallow in increasing available soil N. Maize yield was better related to pre-season nitrate than N in size-density fractions of SOM. Received: 5 May 1997     

田菁翻压还田对滩涂土壤碳氮及微生物生物量的影响

为探讨不同施肥处理下田菁翻压还田对滩涂土壤的改良效果,通过田间小区试验对不同施肥处理(CK、SN1、SN2、SN3、SN4及SN4+OF对应的施氮量分别为N 0、90、135、180、225 kg/hm~2及N 225 kg/hm~2+有机肥)下田菁生物量、碳氮养分含量及翻压还田对土壤碳氮、微生物生物量的影响及各指标间的相关性进行了研究。结果表明:SN3处理对提高田菁总生物量及两次刈割地上部碳氮含量效果明显。SN4+OF处理下田菁翻压还田后土壤有机碳、全氮及固定态铵含量明显提升,分别为6.44 g/kg、0.62 g/kg和40.1mg/kg,土壤活性有机碳、硝态氮、铵态氮、微生物生物量碳氮(MBC、MBN)含量及碳库管理指数(CPMI)均以SN2处理下田菁翻压还田效果较优。土壤C/N、MBC/MBN比值分别以SN4+OF和SN2处理下田菁翻压还田最高。因此,SN3处理可明显提高田菁生物量和碳氮养分含量,而田菁翻压还田效果则以SN2及SN4+OF处理较优。