Role of available carbon and nitrogen in determining the rate of wheat straw decomposition

The effect of available C and N on the rate of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) straw decomposition by microorganisms was determined using electrolytic respirometers under laboratory conditions. Three lots of spring wheat straw containing 1.13, 0.79 and 0.18% N were used. Cold-water soluble C and N were leached from the wheat straw and the respiration from the leached and non-leached straws (1.5 g of each), with and without added N, were compared in a sand system for 881 h. The fraction of soluble C declined as straw N content declined (total soluble C was 14.0, 11.4 and 8.9%, respectively, for the three straws). The fraction of soluble N declined as straw N content declined, but the proportion of total N that was soluble varied with initial straw N content. We postulated from decomposition data for the various treatments that the amount of microbial biomass produced and the overall rate of wheat straw decomposition in the early stages is largely dependent on the size of the soluble C pool and an intermediately-available C pool that is not cold-water soluble but decomposes within the first few days of decay. Our results from this study imply that the amount of N immobilized during wheat straw decomposition is dependent on the amount of available C from both the primary and secondary pools present in the straw. The data also suggest that the soluble C pool and the intermediately-available C pool were metabolized simultaneously.