Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » New Orleans, Louisiana » Southern Regional Research Center » Commodity Utilization Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #312365
Title: Water extractable organic carbon and nitrogen affected by crop rotation and fertilizer management

Author
item ZHANG, MINGCHU - University Of Alaska
item He, Zhongqi
item ZHAO, AIQIN - Chinese Society Of Agricultural Engineering

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/18/2015
Publication Date: 10/2/2015
Citation: Zhang, M., He, Z., Zhao, A. 2015. Water extractable organic carbon and nitrogen affected by crop rotation and fertilizer management. In: He, H, Wu, F., editors. Labile Organic Matter - Chemical Composition, Functions, and Significance in Soil and the Environment. SSSA Special Publication 62. Madison, WI:Soil Science Society of America. P. 119-136.

Interpretive Summary: The importance of soil water soluble organic matter on soil and its environment has been recognized. In this chapter, the role of soil water soluble organic C and N in crop rotation and fertilizer N management has been demonstrated in two cases. For the case of double (potato/barley) and triple crop rotation (potato/timothy/rape seeds), both quantity and quality of soluble organic matter were different. For the case of fertilizer N management, part of applied N in turfgrass field (similarly pasture or hay field) resided in soil as the water soluble organic N. Per theses data, this chapter also attempts to link the different experimental results to confirm the hypothesis that immobilized fertilizer N may reside in the water soluble fraction of soil organic matter. Finally, we suggest that inclusion of the soil water extractable organic N should be an important aspect to solve the N runoff from agriculture field. This inclusion will allow us first to take this active N as part of N fertilizer recommendation and second to study mobility of the soil water soluble organic N and to develop method of controlling it.

Technical Abstract: The importance of soil water soluble organic matter on soil and its environment has been recognized. In this chapter, the role of soil water soluble organic C and N in crop rotation and fertilizer N management has been demonstrated in two cases. For the case of double (potato/barley) and triple crop rotation (potato/timothy/rape seeds), both quantity and quality of soluble organic matter were different. The continuous potato yielded a higher (p < 0.05) level of soil soluble organic C but not N than that of most triple crop rotations. This soluble carbon appeared to have a higher fluorescence humification index but less double bonded C as reflected by the UV-Vis spectra. With a double or triple crop rotation, the impact of potato as a mono crop on properties of soil water soluble organic matter diminished, especially with the triple crop rotations. For the case of fertilizer N management, part of applied N in turfgrass field (similarly pasture or hay field) resided in soil as the water soluble organic N. These were active N that can be used by plants. For crop rotation, more research is needed in the future to link soil water soluble organic matter with disease suppression mechanisms and with functional soil microbial communities. For the future work for N management, quantification of fertilizer N carried over and inclusion of this water soluble organic N as a part of N fertilizer recommendation and runoff/leaching management are needed.