Abstract
To examine the influence of plant-microorganism interactions on soil-N transformations (e.g. net mineralization, net immobilization) a pot experiment was conducted in a14C-labelled atmosphere by using different (two annuals, one perennial) plants species. It was assumed that variation in below-ground, microorganism-available C would influence N transformations in soil. Plant species were fertilized (low rate) with15N-labelled nitrogen and grown, during days 13 and 62 after germination, in a growth chamber with a14C-labelled atmosphere. Nitrification was inhibited by using nitrapyrin (N-Serve). During the chamber period, shoots were harvested, and associated roots and soil were collected on two sampling occasionm, e.g. after 4 and 7 weeks in the growth chamber.
The distribution of net (%) assimilated14C was significantly affected by both plant and time factors, and there was a significant plant × time interaction. There were significant differences between plants in all plant-soil compartments examined as well as in the degree of the plant × time interaction.
Differences in the14C distribution between plants were due to both interspecific and developmental variation. In general, when comparing15N and14C quantities between species, many of the differences found between plants can be explained by the differences determined in the weight of shoot or root parts. Despite the fact that amounts of C released were greater in ryegrass than in the other plant-treatments no unequivocal evidence was found to show that the effects of plant-microorganism interactions on soil-N mineralization were greater under ryegrass. Possible mechanisms accounting for the partitioning of N found among plant biomass, soil biomass and soil residues are discussed.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Breland T A and Bakken L R 1991 Microbial growth and nitrogen immobilization in the root zone of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.), and white clover (Trifolium repens L.). Biol. Fert. Soils 12, 154–160.
Bremner J M 1965 Total nitrogen.In Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 2. Eds. C ABlack et al. Agronomy 9, pp 1149–1178. Am. Soc. Agron. Inc. Madison, Wis.
Bremner J M and Mulvaney C S 1982 Nitrogen-total.In Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 2. Eds. A LPage, R HMiller and D RKeeney. Agronomy 9, pp 595–624. Am. Soc. Agron. Inc. Madison, Wis.
Brookes P C, Landman A, Pruden G and Jenkinson D S 1985 Chloroform fumigation and the release of soil nitrogen: A rapid direct extraction method to measure microbial biomass nitrogen in soil. Soil Biol. Biochem. 17, 837–842.
Brower R 1983 Functional equilibrium: sense or nonsense? Neth. J. Agric. Sci. 31, 335–348.
Chapman J F, Daniels R W and Scarisbrick D H 1984 Field studies on14C assimilate fixation and movement on oil-seed rape (B. napus). J. Agric. Sci. Camb. 102, 23–31.
Clarholm 1985 Possible roles for roots, bacteria, protozoa and fungi in supplying nitrogen to plants.In Ecological Interactions in the Soil. Eds. A HFitter, DAtkinson, D JRead and M BUsher. Special Publication No. 4 of the British Ecological Society. pp 355–365. Blackwell, Oxford.
Clarholm 1989 Effects of plant-bacterial-amoebal interactions on plant uptake of nitrogen under field conditions. Biol. Fert. Soils 8, 373–378.
Curl E A and Truelove B 1986 The rhizosphere. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. 288 p.
Dormaar J F and Sauerbeck D R 1983 Seasonal effects of photoassimilated carbon-14 in the root system of blue grama and associated soil organic matter. Soil Biol. Biochem. 15, 475–479.
Ennik G C and Baan Hofman T 1983 Variation in the root mass of ryegrass types and its ecological consequences. Neth. J. Agric. Sci. 31, 325–334.
Gifford R and Evans L T 1981 Phothosynthesis, carbon partitioning, and yield. Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. 32, 485–509.
Griffiths B S and Robinson D 1992 Root-induced nitrogen mineralization: A nitrogen balance model. Plant and Soil 139, 253–263.
Hale M G and Moore L D 1979 Factors affecting root exudation II: 1970–1978.In Advances in Agronomy. Ed. N CBrady. Vol. 31, pp 93–124. Academic Press, London.
Hale M G, Moore L D and Griffin G J 1978 Root exudates and exudation.In Interactions Between Non-Pathogenic Soil Microorganisms and Plants. Eds. Y RDommergues and S VKrupa. Developments in Agricultural and Managed-Forest Ecology 47, pp 163–203. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
Jenkinson D S 1988 Determination of microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen in soil.In Advances in Nitrogen Cycling in Agricultural Ecosystems. Ed. J RWilson. pp 368–386. C.A.B. International, Wallingford.
Jensen B 1993 Rhizodeposition by14CO2-pulse-labelled spring barley grown in small field plots on sandy loam. Soil Biol. Biochem. 25, 1553–1559.
Johansson G 1991 Carbon distribution in meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis L) determined in a growth chamber with14C-labelled atmosphere. Acta Agric. Scand. 41, 37–46.
Johansson G 1993 Carbon distribution in grass (Festucapratensis L.) during regrowth after cutting — utilization of stored and newly assimilated carbon. Plant and Soil 151, 11–20.
Ivarsson K and Bjarnason S 1988 The long-term soil fertility experiments in southern Sweden. I. Background site description and experimental design. Acta Agric. Scand. 38, 137–143.
Keith H, Oades J M and Martin J K 1986 Input of carbon to soil from wheat plants. Soil Biol. Biochem. 18, 445–449.
Kirchmann H and Erikkson J 1993 Properties and classification of soils of the Swedish long-term fertility experiments: II. Sites at Örja and Orup. Acta Agric. Scand., Sect. B, Soil Plant Sci. 43, 193–205.
Lambers H 1983 ‘The functional equilibrium’, nibbling on the edges of a paradigm. Neth. J. Agric. Sci. 31, 305–311.
Liljeroth E, vanVeen J A and Miller H J 1990 Assimilate translocation to the rhizosphere of two wheat lines and subsequent utilization by rhizosphere microorganisms at two soil nitrogen concentrations. Soil Biol. Biochem. 8, 1015–1021.
Lynch J M and Whipps J M 1991 Substrate flow in the rhizosphere.In The Rhizosphere and Plant Growth. Eds. D LKeister and P BCregan. pp 15–24. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.
Major D J, Bole J B and Charnetski W A 1978 Distribution of photosynthates after14CO2 assimilation by stems, leaves, and pods of rape plants. Can. J. Plant Sci. 58, 783–787.
Martin J K 1977 Factors influencing the loss of organic carbon from wheat roots. Soil Biol. Biochem. 9, 1–7.
Martin J K and Merckx R 1992 The partitioning of photosynthetically fixed carbon within the rhizosphere of mature wheat. Soil Biol. Biochem. 24, 1147–1156.
Meharg A A and Killham K 1990 Carbon distribution within the plant and the rhizosphere in laboratory and field grownLolium perenne at different stages of development. Soil Biol. Biochem. 22, 471–477.
Parsons A J 1988 The effects of season and management on the growth of grass swards.In The Grass Crop. Eds. M BJones and ALazenby. pp 129–177. Chapman and Hall, London.
Rood S B, Major D J and Charnetski W A 1984 Seasonal changes in14CO2 assimilation and14C translocation in oilseed rape. Field Crops Res. 8, 341–348.
Ryle G J A 1970 Distribution patterns of assimilated14C in vegetative and reproductive shoots ofLolium perenne andL. temulentum. Ann. Appl. Biol. 66, 155–167.
SAS 1989 Institute INC: SAS/STAT User's Guide, version 6, Fourth Edition, Vol. 2. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc. 846 p.
SAS 1991 System for Linear Models, Third Edition. Littell R C, Freund R J and Spector P C. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC. 329 p.
Swinnen J, VanVeen J A and Merckx R 199414C pulse-labelling of field-grown spring wheat: an evaluation of its use in rhizosphere carbon budget estimations. Soil Biol. Biochem. 26, 161–170.
Swinnen J, VanVeen J A and Merckx R 1994 Rhizosphere carbon fluxes in field-grown spring wheat: model calculations based on14C partitioning after pulse-labelling. Soil Biol. Biochem. 26, 171–182.
Sylvester-Bradley R and Makepeace R J 1984 A code for stages of development in oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.). Aspects of Applied Biology 6. Agronomy, Physiology, Plant Breeding and Crop Protection of Oilseed Rape. pp 398–419.
Troughton A 1957 The underground organs of herbage grasses. Bulletin 44. Commonwealth Bureau of Pastures and Field Crops, Hurley.
Troughton A 1981 Lenght of life of grass roots. Grass Forage Sci. 36, 117–120.
VanVeen J A, Merckx R and Van deGeijn S C 1989 Plant- and soil related controls of the flow of carbon from roots through the soil microbial biomass. Plant and Soil 115, 179–188.
Wardlaw I F 1990 The control of carbon partitioning in plants. New Phytol. 116, 341–381.
Warembourg F R and Paul E A 1977 Seasonal transfers of assimilated14C in grassland: plant production and turnover, soil and plant respiration. Soil Biol. Biochem. 9, 295–301.
Whipps J M 1987 Carbon loss from the roots of tomato and pea seedlings grown in soil. Plant and Soil 103, 95–100.
Whipps J M 1990 Carbon economy.In The Rhizosphere. Ed. J MLynch. pp 59–97. Wiley, Chichester.
Woldendorp J W 1981 Nutrients in the rhizosphere.In Proc. 16th Collop. Int. Potash Institute, Warsaw. pp 99–125. Der Bund, Bern.
Wu J, Joergensen R G, Pommerening B, Chaussod R and Brookes P C 1990 Measurement of soil microbial biomass C by fumigation — extraction — An automated procedure. Soil Biol. Biochem. 22, 1167–1169.
Zadoks J C, Chang T T and Konzak C F 1974 A decimal code for growth stages of cereals. Weed Res. 14, 415–421.
Zagal E 1993 Measurement of microbial biomass in rewetted air-dried soil by fumigation-incubation and fumigation-extraction techniques. Soil Biol. Biochem. 25, 553–559.
Zagal E 1994 Influence of light intensity on the distribution of carbon and consequent effects on mineralization of soil nitrogen in a barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) soil system. Plant and Soil 160, 21–31.
Zagal E, Bjarnasson S and Olsson U 1993 Carbon and nitrogen in the root-zone of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) supplied with nitrogen fertilizer at two rates. Plant and Soil 57, 51–63.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zagal, E. Carbon distribution and nitrogen partitioning in a soil-plant system with barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and rape (Brassica napus L.) grown in a14CO2-atmosphere. Plant Soil 166, 63–74 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02185482
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02185482