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Nitrification and Characteristics of Nitrifying Microorganisms in an Acid Forest Soil¹

ABSTRACT

A study was conducted of factors affecting nitrate (NO^-₃) accumulation and characteristics of the nitrifying microflora in the O₂ horizon of an acid forest soil (pH 3.6–4.0) from the Adirondacks region of New York. The addition of ammonium (NH⁺₄ did not enhance NO^-₃ formation in suspensions of soil, but such an enhancement occurred if the suspensions were amended with peptone or if the soil had been previously leached with distilled water. The effect of additions of NH⁺₄ on NO^-₃ production was correlated with the influence of NH⁺₄ on N mineralization. Although levels of 47 µg NH⁺₄-N/mL stimulated NO^-₃ formation in suspensions of leached soil, additions of 94 µg NH⁺₄-N/mL or more were toxic. The enhancement of nitrification by low concentrations of NH⁺₄ was not accompanied by an increase in CO₂ fixation. Nitrapyrin inhibited nitrification in NH⁺₄-amended but not in unamended suspensions of soil, but it suppressed CO₂ fixation in suspensions with and without added NH⁺₄. Nitrapyrin stimulated N and C mineralization. The results show that nitrification in this soil is not the result of classical autotrophic nitrifiers, and a possible role for methylotroph-type organisms in nitrification is suggested.

¹ Contribution from the Dep. of Agronomy, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY 14853. This research was supported in part by the EPA/NCSU Acid Precipitation Program. It has not been subjected to EPAs required peer and policy review and therefore does not necessarily reflect the views of the agency, and no official endorsement should be inferred.

² Graduate Research Assistants, Research Associate, and Professor, respectively. Present address of first author: Monsanto Agricultural Products, 800 N. Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63147.

Received for publication January 30, 1985. Accepted for publication June 20, 1985.