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Spatial Variation in Denitrification: Dependency of Activity Centers on the Soil Environment

Dep. of Population Biology, Copenhagen Univ., Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark

Stephen Simkins

Dep. of Plant and Soil Sciences, Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003

James M. Tiedje

Dep. of Crop and Soil Sciences and Dep. of Microbiology and Public Health, Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI 48824

*Corresponding author.

ABSTRACT

The spatial variation in field denitrification rates was studied in an acid soil where the sole denitrification end product was N₂O. The rate of N₂O accumulation was measured under a soil cover at 30 fixed sampling locations arranged in a grid. Water and NO₃ were added prior to all measurements to provide soil water contents at or above field capacity and excess NO₃ for denitrification. No significant differences in N₂O production rates were observed in samples incubated with or without C₂H₂, indicting that nitrification is not a significant source of N₂O in this soil. Denitrification was found to occur in "hot spots" in moist soil and throughout the soil volume if the soil was flooded. Denitrification rates followed a skewed frequency distribution when soil water content was at field capacity: most locations had low activity, and a few locations exhibited high activity. The frequency distribution of denitrification rates was less skewed in samples after flooding, following large additions of glucose, or when the vegetation underwent decay in the fall. The intensity of denitrification was much higher after flooding than following glucose addition. A few sample locations occasionally showed outstandingly high denitrification rates when at field capacity, as well as when flooded. The activity in these hot spots approximated the potential denitrification activity of that soil.

Contribution from Dep. of Crop and Soil Sciences and Dep. of Microbiology and Public Health, Michigan State Univ., and the Michigan Agric. Exp. Stn.

Received for publication September 18, 1989.

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