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Nitrate Reduction to Ammonium in Anaerobic Soil¹

ABSTRACT

Knowledge regarding the pathway and soil conditions necessary for NO₃^- Conversion to NH₄⁺ and organic N, a process which conserves soil N, is limited. The influence of rice straw (2.5 mg C/g soil), methanol (1.0 mg C/g soil), and glucose (1.0 mg C/g soil) on the fate of 100 µg/g ¹⁵N-labelled NO₃^--N was studied in Crowley silt loam. The fraction of the added NO₃^--N in the NO₃^-, N₂, NH₄⁺, and organic N forms was determined after 4-day incubations under an Ar atmosphere at 30°C. In glucose-amended soil 9 and 19% of the applied NO₃^--N was recovered as NH₄⁺-N and organic N, respectively. A 1-day preincubation with glucose (0.5 mg C/g soil) before the 4-day incubation with added NO₃^- and glucose increased labelled NH₄⁺-N and organic N recovery to 36 and 34% of the added NO₃^--N, respectively. The corresponding values for rice straw- and methanol-treated soil and soil containing no added energy source were each less than 5%.

Nitrate-N reduction to NH₄⁺-N increased to 20.5% after a 4-day incubation when soil with no C amendment was incubated under Ar for 20 days before NO₃^- addition. The redox potential was –260 mV upon NO₃^- addition

Transformation of significant amounts of NO₃^- to NH₄⁺ and organic N required intensely reduced soil conditions. The reaction was apparently not suppressed by NH₄⁺. Evidence indicated that NO₃^- was reduced to NH₄⁺ by a nonassimilatory pathway in which NO₃^- functioned as a terminal electron acceptor.

¹ Contribution from the Laboratory for Wetland Soils and Sediments, Center for Wetland Resources, Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA 70803. This work is a result of research sponsored by NOAA Office of Sea Grant, Department of Commerce, under Grant no. 04-7-158-44125. The U.S. Government is authorized to produce and distribute reprints for governmental purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation that may appear hereon.

² Graduate Assistant and Professor, respectively, Center for Wetland Resources, Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA 70803.

Received for publication August 31, 1977. Accepted for publication June 26, 1978.

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