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The Acetylene Inhibition Method for Short-term Measurement of Soil Denitrification and its Evaluation Using Nitrogen-13¹

ABSTRACT

Acetylene was found to effectively inhibit the reduction of N₂O by anaerobic soils. With concentrations of C₂H₂ above 0.1 atm, added NO₃^- was quantitatively converted to N₂O, and added N₂O was reduced at an insignificant rate. Experiments with ¹³N demonstrated that at low soil nitrate concentrations at least 0.1 atm C₂H₂ was required for effective inhibition. Denitrification rates determined by ¹³N and by C₂H₂ inhibition methods correlated well, as did determinations of N₂O/(N₂ + N₂O). The methods also revealed that an acceleration in denitrification rate occurred within a few hours after soil was exposed to anaerobic conditions. The acetylene method was generally used to measure denitrification rates in soils incubated as anaerobic slurries, but was also used to determine rates for field moist aggregrates incubated anaerobically and aerobically. When assayed as anaerobic slurries, initial denitrification rates ranged from 0.1 to 0.7 nmoles N gas · soil^–1 · min^–1 for the mineral soils examined. The denitrification rate in aerobic aggregrates was approximately 1,000 times less, showing the strong inhibitory effect of O₂ on the indigenous denitrifying enzymes.

¹ Contribution from the Dept. of Crop and Soil Sciences and Dept. of Microbiology and Public Health, Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI 48824. Journal article no. 8280. of the Michigan Agric. Expt. Stn.

² Research Assistants and Associate Professor, respectively.

Received for publication October 3, 1977. Accepted for publication March 6, 1978.

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