ISSN:
1432-0789
Keywords:
A N value
;
15N
;
Nitrogen fixation
;
Glycine max
;
Hordeum vulgare
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Geosciences
,
Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture, Fishery, Domestic Science, Nutrition
Notes:
Abstract Pot experiments were conducted with two soils, from Rottenhaus and Seibersdorf in Austria, to ascertain whether the rate of fertilizer N application and the test crop would influence the amount of N available in the soil as assessed by the A-value method. 15N-labelled fertilizer was applied at rates of 10, 25, 40, 60, and 100 mg N kg-1 soil, corresponding approximately to 20, 50, 80, 120 and 200 kg N ha-1 respectively, and two crop species, barley (Hordeum vulgareL.) and non-nodulating soybean (Glycine max L.) were used to determine the soil A N value under the various fertilizer regimes. The results showed that the Rottenhaus soil had a higher A N value than the Seibersdorf soil, suggesting that the former was more fertile than the latter. The A N values of both soils were significantly affected by the level of N application. When grown in the same soil, the two test crops showed significantly different fertilizer use efficiency and per cent N derived from fertilizer when the rate of N application exceeded 20 kg ha-1. Thus, the A N value as determined by the two test crops differed significantly for the same soil when the rate of N application was greater than 20 kg/ha. The difference was greater when the soil fertility level was high. The dependence of the A N value on the level of N application and the species of crop seriously compromises the suitability of this method for determining plant-associated N2 fixation. Hence, considerable caution is required when using this method to estimate plant-associated N2 fixation.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00369309
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