Effects of Phosphorus on Nitrification Process in a Fertile Soil Amended with Urea

Jianfeng Ning, Yuji Arai, Jian Shen, Ronghui Wang and Shaoying Ai
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Jianfeng Ning: Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer in South Region, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nutrient Cycling and Farmland Conservation, Guangzhou 510640, China
Yuji Arai: Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
Jian Shen: Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer in South Region, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nutrient Cycling and Farmland Conservation, Guangzhou 510640, China
Ronghui Wang: Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer in South Region, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nutrient Cycling and Farmland Conservation, Guangzhou 510640, China
Shaoying Ai: Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer in South Region, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nutrient Cycling and Farmland Conservation, Guangzhou 510640, China

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 6, 1-12

Abstract: 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 −1 d −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.

Keywords: nitrification; urea nitrogen; phosphorus; N/P stoichiometry; ammonia oxidizing bacteria/archaea (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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