Assessment of the relative uptake of added and indigenous soil nitrogen by nodulated legumes and reference plants in the 15N dilution measurement of N2 fixation: Glasshouse application of method

A method for calculating the relative uptake (R) of added N and indigenous soil N by a legume (Trifolium subterraneum) and non-legume (Lolium rigidum), growing together, was investigated in two pot experiments. In the first experiment, ¹⁵N-labelled sodium nitrate was applied to the soil surface at rates equivalent to 0.3 or 1.0kg N ha^?1. Twenty one days later, the legume had fixed about 95% of its total N and this was unaffected by N addition. There was no difference in R values between legume and non-legume at both N rates.In the second experiment using a soil of higher total N, sodium nitrate or ammonium sulphate were surface-applied at a rate equivalent to 1 kg N ha^?1 and harvests were made at 3, 6, 12 and 27 days after N addition. Fixation of atmospheric N₂ by the legume did not begin until day 12 but accounted for about 40% of the total N assimilated by the legume by day 27. There was no difference in R values between legume and non-legume throughout the growth period when sodium nitrate was applied. However, when ammonium sulphate was added to label to soil N, the uptake of added N relative to indigenous soil N was greater for the non-legume than the legume. This caused an overestimation (51 vs 43%) of the proportion on N fixed by the legume when compared with that for the control or sodium nitrate treatments.