Effects of Soil pH on Gaseous Nitrogen Loss Pathway via Feammox Process

Ding Ma, Jin Wang, Jun Xue, Zhengbo Yue, Shaofeng Xia, Lei Song and Hongwen Gao
Additional contact information
Ding Ma: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
Jin Wang: School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, China
Jun Xue: Hefei Municipal Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd., Hefei 230009, China
Zhengbo Yue: School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, China
Shaofeng Xia: Hefei Municipal Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd., Hefei 230009, China
Lei Song: Hefei Municipal Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd., Hefei 230009, China
Hongwen Gao: College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 18, 1-11

Abstract: The application of N fertilizer is one of the most critical soil acidification factors in China, and soil acidification significantly alters biogeochemical processes such as N loss. Anaerobic ammonium oxidation coupled with iron reduction (Feammox) is an important biological process for N loss in natural environments, with the end-products of N 2 , NO 2 − and NO 3 − . However, the response of Feammox pathways to soil pH fluctuation has not been thoroughly studied. In the current study, Feammox pathways and microbial communities were explored through a slurry culture experiment with an artificially adjusted pH combined with a 15 N isotope tracing technique and molecular biotechnology. Results showed significant differences in the gaseous N loss through Feammox (0.42–0.97 mg N kg −1 d −1 ) under different pH conditions. The gaseous N loss pathways were significantly affected by the pH, and Feammox to N 2 was the predominant pathway in low-pH incubations. The proportion of N loss caused by Feammox coupled with denitrification increased as the soil pH increased. The gaseous N loss through Feammox increased by 43.9% when the soil pH decreased from 6.5 to 5.0. Fe-reducing bacteria, such as Ochrobactrum , Sphingomonas , and Clostridium increased significantly in lower pH incubations. Overall, this study demonstrated the effects of soil pH on Feammox pathways and extended the understanding of the N biogeochemical cycle in acidic soil.

Keywords: Feammox; soil pH; acidification; N loss (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/18/10393/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/18/10393/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:18:p:10393-:d:637888

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().