Author
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Martens, Dean |
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Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 10/19/1998 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Biochemical characterization of soils, plants and bacterial products reveal potential for N release, contamination problems and aggregation improvement. Ion chromatography (IC) with pulsed electrochemical detection (PED) has advantages over traditional wet-chemistry, or gas and liquid chromato-graphic analyses for determination of carbohydrates and amine compounds. Soil carbohydrate concentrations determined by IC-PED were correlated with soil microbial respiration after initial organic amendment application, but were not related with increased soil aggregation or infiltration rates during a two-year field study. Selenoamino acid decomposition rates (seleno-methionine, SeMet; selenocysteine, SeCys) in soils were determined using IC-PED and showed that Se volatilization from seleniferous alfalfa added to soils was related to the SeMet:SeCys ratio. A low alfalfa SeMet:SeCys ratio resulted in little volatile Se loss and a similar Se speciation profile as found for soil decomposition of SeCys. Amino acids such as galactos- and glucosamine are found in high levels in soil and determining soil amino mineralization rates will help predict N mineralization potential. |
