Participation of soluble and oxidizable soil organic compounds in denitrification

Summary The role of soluble organic carbon (SOC) in denitrification in four mineral soils and one organic soil was evaluated in laboratory studies. Denitrification capacities and SOC concentrations were determined by nitrate loss from air-dried flooded soil treated with a solution containing 100 g/ml N0₃^–-N, while the rate of consumption was measured by Warburg manometry on 20 g air-dried soils to which 10 ml water had been added. High correlation coefficients (r > 0.93) were obtained between denitrification capacities, SOC, and oxygen consumption in the five soils. A mineral soil was amended with extracts of an organic soil. After incubating for 1 week, denitrification capacity was enhanced and SOC concentrations decreased in that soil. Extracted mineral soil had a lower denitrification capacity than an unextracted one. Decreases in concentrations of SOC were related to color change. Infrared spectra of precipitates from soil extracts indicated that absorption at wave number 1420–1440 cm -1 was also related to the color changes. It was implied that low molecular weight fulvic acid like compounds represented the SOC mineralized in denitrification, and that their supply to soil solution by solubilization of organic matter influenced the denitrification rate in the soil.