Soil potassium (K) deficiency has been increasing over recent decades as a result of higher inputs of N and P fertilizers concomitant with lower inputs of K fertilizers in China; however, the effects of interactions between N, P, and K of fertilizers on K status in soils have not been thoroughly investigated for optimizing N, P, and K fertilizer use effciency. The influence of ammonium sulfate (AS), monocalcium phosphate (MCP), and potassium chloride application on K fractions in three typical soils of China was evaluated during 90-d laboratory soil incubation. The presence of AS significantly altered the distribution of native and added K in soils, while addition of MCP did not significantly affected K equilibrium in most cases. Addition of AS significantly increased water-soluble K (WSK), decreased exchangeable K (EK) in almost all the soils except the paddy soil that contained considerable amounts of 2:1 type clay minerals with K added, retarded the formation of fixed K in the soils with K added, and suppressed the release of fixed K in the three soils without K added. These interactions might be expected to influence the K availability to plants when the soil was fertilized with AS. To improve K fertilizer use effciency, whether combined application of AS and K was to be recommended or avoided should depend on K status of the soil, soil properties, and cropping systems.
WANG Huo-Yan, ZHOU Jian-Min, DU Chang-Wen and CHEN Xiao-Qin State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008 (China)
To better understand the interaction of N transformation and exogenous C source and manage N fertilization, the effects of glucose addition on N transformation were determined in paddy soils with a gradient of soil organic C content. Changes in N mineralization, nitrification and denitrification, as well as their response to glucose addition were measured by incubation experiments in paddy soils derived from Quaternary red clay in subtropical China. Mineralization and denitrification were changed in order of increasing soil fertilities: high > middle > low. During the first week of incubation, net N mineralization and denitrification rates in paddy soil with high fertility were 1.9 and 1.1 times of those in soil with middle fertility and 5.3 and 2.9 times of those in soil with low fertility, respectively. Addition of glucose decreased net N mineralization by approximately 78.8, 109.2 and 177.4% in soils with high, middle and low fertility, respectively. However, denitrification rates in soils with middle and low fertility were increased by 14.4 and 166.2% respectively. The highest nitrate content among the paddy soils tested was 0.62 mg kg-1 and the highest nitrification ratio was 0.33%. Addition of glucose had no obvious effects on nitrate content and nitrification ratio. It was suggested that the intensity of mineralization and denitrification was quite different in soils with different fertility, and increased with increasing soil organic C content. Addition of glucose decreased mineralization, but increased denitrification, and the shifts were greater in soil with low than in soil with high organic C content. Neither addition of glucose nor inherent soil organic C had obvious effects on nitrification in paddy soils tested.
