Short- and long-term effects of nitrogen fertilization on methane oxidation in three Swedish forest soils

• Published in: Biology and fertility of soils Vol. 27; no. 2; pp. 113 - 118
• Main Authors: Borjesson, G, Nohrstedt, H.O
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin Springer 01.01.1998
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; ammonium nitrate; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; application rate; biogeochemical cycles; Biological and medical sciences; calcium ammonium nitrate; Chemical, physicochemical, biochemical and biological properties; coniferous forests; edaphic factors; forest soils; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; gas exchange; General agronomy. Plant production; humus; long term experiments; methane; methane oxidation capacity; methane production; Microbial ecology; mineral soils; Nitrogen fertilization; nitrogen fertilizers; Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium fertilizations; nutrient sources; Organic matter; oxidation; Physics, chemistry, biochemistry and biology of agricultural and forest soils; Pinus sylvestris; site factors; Soil; soil organic matter; soil profiles; Soil science; Soil-plant relationships. Soil fertility. Fertilization. Amendments; Sweden; temperate soils; uptake; urea; Sweden; Scandinavia; Europe; Short term; Process dynamics; Methane; Nitrogen fertilization; Forest soil; Pinus sylvestris; Mineral fertilization; Greenhouse gas; Softwood forest tree; Gymnospermae; Oxidation; CONIFEROUS FORESTS; Nitrogen fertilizer; Podzol; Organic compounds; Hydrocarbon; Long term; Biological activity; Carbon cycle; Gases; Urea; Biogeochemistry; Forestry; Ammonium nitrate; Coniferales; Spermatophyta; Field study
• DOI: 10.1007/s003740050408
• ISSN: 0178-2762

Under normal conditions, CH4, one of the most important greenhouse gases, is subject to biological oxidation in forest soils. However, this process can be negatively affected by N amendment. The reported experiment was conducted in order to study the short-and long-term effects of N amendment on CH4 oxidation in pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forest soils. Soil samples were taken from three experimental sites, two of which had been amended with N once, over 20 years earlier, while the third had been amended 3 weeks earlier. The soil samples were incubated fresh at 15 degrees C at ambient CH4 concentrations (ca. 1.8 ppmv CH4). The variation in CH4-turnover rates was high within the treatments: CH4 was produced [up to 22.6 pmol CH4 g dry wt. soil-1 h-1) in samples from the recently amended site, whereas it was consumed at high rates (up to 431 pmol CH4 g dry wt. soil-1 h-1) in samples from the plot that had received the highest N amendment 27 years before sampling. Although no significant differences were found between N treatments, in the oldest plots there was a correlation between consumption of atmospheric CH4 and the total C content at a depth of 7.5-15 cm in the mineral soil (r2 =0.74). This indicates that in the long-term, increased C retention in forest soils following N amendment could lead to increased CH4 oxidation.