4.7 Article

Carbon and nitrogen mineralization as affected by drying and wetting cycles

Journal

SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
Volume 37, Issue 2, Pages 339-347

Publisher

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2004.08.003

Keywords

dry-wet cycles; carbon and nitrogen flush; aggregate destruction and size distribution

Categories

Ask authors/readers for more resources

Drying and rewetting of soil is an important process in soil aggregation, soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition, and nutrient cycling We investigated the source of the C and N flush that occurs upon rewetting of dry soil, and whether it is from microbial death and/or aggregate destruction. A moderately well drained Kennebec silt loam (Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Cumulic Hapludoll) was sampled to a 10 cm depth. Soil under constant water content (CWC) was compared with soil subjected to a series of four dry-wet (DW) cycles during the experimental period (96 d) and incubated at 25 degreesC. Mineralized C and N were measured during the drying and rewetting periods. Aggregate size distributions were studied by separating the soil into four aggregate size classes (> 2000, 250-2000, 53-250, and 2053 pm) by wet sieving. Repeated DW cycles significantly reduced cumulative N mineralization compared with CWC. The reduction in cumulative mineralized C resulting from DW compared with CWC increased as the DW treatments were subjected to additional cycles. The flush of mineralized C significantly decreased with repeated DW cycles. There was no significant effect on aggregate size distributions resulting from to the DW cycles compared with CWC treatment. Therefore, the flush of mineralized C and N seemed to be mostly microbial in origin in as much as aggregate distribution was unaffected by DW cycles. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.7
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available