ARS | Publication request: ACCOUNTING FOR N MINERALIZATION: A REVIEW

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: August 14, 2001
Publication Date: October 1, 2001

Technical Abstract: Accurately predicting N mineralization (Nmin) of native soil organic matter (SOM) is difficult. Different Soils and climates, both highly variable complicates the issue. Here we compiled seasonal estimates of Nmin from several field studies. For a first cut, we only include data for native- SOM and do not include organic amendments. Estimates of Nmin range from 1 to 152 kg N/ha a season. After normalizing the data to a 20 week incubation period Nmin amounts range from 1 to 142 kg N/ha. Soil type and management as well as climate at the various locations obviously influences the magnitude of the estimates. Neither SOM or total N was a good predictor for the amount of seasonal N min reported in the study. And no particular patterns are obvious, but a range of what to expect is presented. More importantly, this summary supports the push for an accurate predictive simulation model that is non-site specific.