TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of Phosphorus on Nitrification Process in a Fertile Soil Amended with Urea
AU - Ning, Jianfeng
AU - Arai, Yuji
AU - Shen, Jian
AU - Wang, Ronghui
AU - Ai, Shaoying
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This research was jointly funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31701996), China Scholarships Council (201908440099) and Agricultural competitive industry discipline team building project of Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences (202120TD).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/6
Y1 - 2021/6
N2 - While the effects of carbon on soil nitrogen (N) cycle have been extensively studied, it is not clearly understood how co-existing macronutrients, such as phosphorus (P), affect the N cycle in agroecosystems. In this study, P amendment effects on nitrification in a fertile agricultural soil were investigated under a typical N-P amendment rate. In a laboratory incubation study, soils were amended with urea, monopotassium phosphate and a mixture of urea and monopotassium phosphate at the same rate. In soils that received no amendments (control), P only, urea only, and urea plus P amendment, nitrification occurred within the first five days, with an average net nitrification rate of 5.30, 5.77, 16.66 and 9.00 mg N kg−1d−1, respectively. Interestingly, nitrification in urea-treated soils was retarded by P addition where a N:P ratio seemed to be a key factor impeding nitrification. This was also supported by the response of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), which was more sensitive to P addition than ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA). The outcome of this study showed that application of P fertilizer suppressed the nitrification process in urea amended soil, suggesting that a synergistic aspect of N and P nutrient management should be further explored to retard N losses from agricultural systems.
AB - While the effects of carbon on soil nitrogen (N) cycle have been extensively studied, it is not clearly understood how co-existing macronutrients, such as phosphorus (P), affect the N cycle in agroecosystems. In this study, P amendment effects on nitrification in a fertile agricultural soil were investigated under a typical N-P amendment rate. In a laboratory incubation study, soils were amended with urea, monopotassium phosphate and a mixture of urea and monopotassium phosphate at the same rate. In soils that received no amendments (control), P only, urea only, and urea plus P amendment, nitrification occurred within the first five days, with an average net nitrification rate of 5.30, 5.77, 16.66 and 9.00 mg N kg−1d−1, respectively. Interestingly, nitrification in urea-treated soils was retarded by P addition where a N:P ratio seemed to be a key factor impeding nitrification. This was also supported by the response of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), which was more sensitive to P addition than ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA). The outcome of this study showed that application of P fertilizer suppressed the nitrification process in urea amended soil, suggesting that a synergistic aspect of N and P nutrient management should be further explored to retard N losses from agricultural systems.
KW - Ammonia oxidizing bacteria/archaea
KW - N/P stoichiometry
KW - Nitrification
KW - Phosphorus
KW - Urea nitrogen
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U2 - 10.3390/agriculture11060523
DO - 10.3390/agriculture11060523
M3 - Article
SN - 2077-0472
VL - 11
JO - Agriculture (Switzerland)
JF - Agriculture (Switzerland)
IS - 6
M1 - 523
ER -