Promoting microbial immobilization of soil nitrogen during restoration of abandoned agricultural fields by organic additions

Tibor Szili-Kovács*, Katalin Török, Emma L. Tilston, David W. Hopkins

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalShort communication peer-review

42 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Application of organic materials to soils to enhance N immobilization into microbial biomass, thereby reducing inorganic N concentrations, was studied as a management option to accelerate the reestablishment of the native vegetation on abandoned arable fields on sandy soils the Kiskunság National Park, Hungary. Sucrose and sawdust were used at three different topographic sites over 4 years. N availability and extractable inorganic N concentrations were significantly reduced in all sites. Soil microbial biomass C and microbial biomass N increased significantly following C additions, but the microbial C to microbial N ratio remained unaffected. It is concluded that the combined application of the rapidly utilized C source (sucrose) promoted N immobilization, whereas the addition of the slowly utilized C source (sawdust) maintained the elevated microbial biomass C and microbial biomass N in the field.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)823-828
Number of pages6
JournalBiology and Fertility of Soils
Volume43
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPrint publication - Aug 2007
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgments This work was supported by the Hungarian National Research Fund (OTKA T42930), the National Research and Development Programme (NKFP 3B/0008/2002), the TÉT Foundation (UK-HU), and the British Council (Hungary).

Copyright:
Copyright 2008 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Immobilization
  • Restoration
  • Sawdust
  • Soil microbial biomass
  • Sucrose

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