HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Douglas, B.F. Articles by Magdoff, F.R. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Douglas, B.F. Articles by Magdoff, F.R. Agricola Articles by Douglas, B.F. Articles by Magdoff, F.R.

An Evaluation of Nitrogen Mineralization Indices for Organic Residues

Vermont Dep. of Environ. Conserv., The Annex, Protection Div., 103 S. Main St., Waterbury, VT 05676;

F.R. Magdoff^*

Dep. of Plant and Soil Science, Univ. of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405.

^* Corresponding author.

ABSTRACT

Organic residues without high levels of toxic metal or organic constituents are usually applied to agricultural soils at rates based on assumed contributions of available N to the growing crop. However, there is no accepted test for assessing potential available N supply from residues. Although the actual contribution will depend on soil characteristics and climate as well as residue characteristics, a chemical index might be useful in ranking residues according to potential available N contributions. An experiment was conducted to evaluate a number of chemical indices for N availability. The 19 residues used in the study consisted of seven types of manures, six sewage sludges, and six composted or mixed soil amendments. Organic residues were mixed with sandy top-soil and perlite and incubated in glass tubes in the laboratory for 67 d. Total N, total Kjeldahl N, organic N, and N released into the Walkely-Black acid-dichromate digest (WBN) were significantly correlated with the amount of N mineralized as well as the fraction of organic N mineralized during the incubation. The best relationship for the amount of N mineralized was with WBN (r₂ = 0.89 for a quadratic relationship). The strongest of the correlations for fraction of organic N mineralized was also with WBN (r₂ = 0.82).

This article has been cited by other articles:

				V. Arthurson Proper Sanitization of Sewage Sludge: a Critical Issue for a Sustainable Society Appl. Envir. Microbiol., September 1, 2008; 74(17): 5267 - 5275. [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. M. van Es, J. M. Sogbedji, and R. R. Schindelbeck Effect of manure application timing, crop, and soil type on nitrate leaching. J. Environ. Qual., March 1, 2006; 35(2): 670 - 679. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. M. Cherr, J. M. S. Scholberg, and R. McSorley Green Manure Approaches to Crop Production: A Synthesis Agron. J., February 7, 2006; 98(2): 302 - 319. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. A. Hanselman, D. A. Graetz, and T. A. Obreza A Comparison of In Situ Methods for Measuring Net Nitrogen Mineralization Rates of Organic Soil Amendments J. Environ. Qual., May 1, 2004; 33(3): 1098 - 1105. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. R. Munoz, K. A. Kelling, J. M. Powell, and P. E. Speth Comparison of Estimates of First-Year Dairy Manure Nitrogen Availability or Recovery Using Nitrogen-15 and Other Techniques J. Environ. Qual., March 1, 2004; 33(2): 719 - 727. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				O.S. Qafoku, M.L. Cabrera, W.R. Windham, and N.S. Hill Rapid Methods to Determine Potentially Mineralizable Nitrogen in Broiler Litter J. Environ. Qual., January 1, 2001; 30(1): 217 - 221. [Abstract] [Full Text]