Abstract
Release, fixation, and distribution of ammonium (NH +4 ) as a source of nitrogen can play an important role in soil fertility and plant nutrition. In this study, ten surface soils, after addition of 1,000 mg NH +4 kg−1, were incubated for 1 week at the field capacity moisture and 25 ± 2 °C temperature, and then NH +4 release kinetic was investigated by sequential extractions with 10 mM CaCl2. Furthermore, NH +4 distribution among three fractions, including water-soluble, exchangeable, and non-exchangeable, was determined in all soil samples. NH +4 release was initially rapid followed by a slower reaction, and this was described well with the Elovich equation as an empirical model. The cumulative NH +4 concentration released in spiked soil samples had a positive significant correlation with sand content and negative ones with pH, exchangeable Ca2+m and K+, cation exchange capacity (CEC), equivalent calcium carbonate (ECC), and clay content. The cation exchange model in the PHREEQC program was successful in mechanistic simulation of the release trend of native and added NH +4 in all control and spiked soil samples. The results of fractionation experiments showed that the non-exchangeable fraction in control and spiked soil samples was greater than that in water-soluble and exchangeable fractions. Soil properties, such as pH, exchangeable Ca2+ and K+, CEC, ECC, and contents of sand and clay, had significant influences on the distribution of NH +4 among three measured fractions. This study indicated that both native and recently fixed NH +4 , added to soil through the application of fertilizers, were readily available for plant roots during 1 week after exposure.
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00244-014-9996-7/MediaObjects/244_2014_9996_Fig1_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00244-014-9996-7/MediaObjects/244_2014_9996_Fig2_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00244-014-9996-7/MediaObjects/244_2014_9996_Fig3_HTML.gif)
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allison FE, Doetsch JH, Roller E (1953) Availability of fixed ammonium in soils containing different clay minerals. Soil Sci 75:373–381
Appelo CAJ, Postma D (1993) Geochemistry, groundwater and pollution. A. A. Balkema Publishers, Rotterdam, p 536
Baethgen WE, Alley MM (1989) A manual colorimetric procedure for measuring ammonium nitrogen in soil and plant Kjeldahl digests. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 20(9/10):961–969
Brady NC, Weil RR (2007) Nature and properties of soil, 14th edn. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, p 881
Chantigny MH, Angers DA, Morvan T, Pomar C (2004) Dynamics of pig slurry nitrogen in soil and plant as determined with 15N. Soil Sci Soc Am J 68:637–643
Chen CC, Turner FT, Dixon JB (1989) Ammonium fixation by high charge smectite in selected Texas Gulf Coast soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 53:1035–1040
Drury CF, Beauchamp EG, Evans LJ (1989) Fixation and immobilization of recently applied 15NH4 + in selected Ontario and Quebec soils. Can J Soil Sci 69:391–400
Feigenbaum S, Edelstein R, Shainberg I (1981) Release rate of potassium and structural cations from micas to ion exchangers in dilute solution. Soil Sci Soc Am J 45:501–506
Feigenbaum S, Hadas A, Sofer M, Molina JAE (1994) Clay-fixed ammonium as a source of available nitrogen. Soil Sci Soc Am J 58:980–985
Gaines GL, Thomas HC (1953) Adsorption studies on clay minerals. II. A formulation of the thermodynamics of exchange adsorption. J Chem Phys 21:714–718
Goldberg S (1997) Reactions of boron with soils. Plant Soil 193:35–48
Gouveia GA, Eudoxie GD (2007) Distribution of fertilizer N among fixed ammonium fractions as affected by moisture and fertilizer source and rate. Biol Fertil Soils 44:9–18
Hagin J, Feigenbaum S (1962) Estimation of available potassium reserves in soils. Potassium Symposium 219–227
Jalali M (2005) Release kinetics of non-exchangeable potassium in calcareous soils. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 36:1903–1917
Jalali M (2006) Kinetics of non-exchangeable potassium release and availability in some calcareous soils of western Iran. Geoderma 135:63–71
Jellali S, Diamantopoulos E, Kallali H, Bennaceur S, Anane M, Jedidi N (2010) Dynamic sorption of ammonium by sandy soil in fixed bed columns: evaluation of equilibrium and non-equilibrium transport processes. J Environ Manag 91:897–905
Juang TC, Wang MK, Chen HJ, Tan CC (2001) Ammonium fixation by surface soils and clays. Soil Sci 166:345–352
Kittrick JA (1966) Forces involved in ion fixation by vermiculite. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 30:801–803
Kowalenko CG (1978) Nitrogen transformations and transport over 17 months in field fallow microplots using 15N. Can J Soil Sci 58:69–76
Kowalenko CG, Cameron DR (1976) Nitrogen transformations in an incubated soil as affected by combinations of moisture and temperature and adsorption-fixation of ammonium. Can J Soil Sci 56:63–70
Liang BC, MacKenzie AF (1994) Fertilization rates and clay fixed ammonium in two Quebec soils. Plant Soil 163:103–109
Liu Y, Li BZC, Hu F, Velde B (2008) Long-term fertilization influences on clay mineral composition and ammonium adsorption in a rice paddy soil. Soil Sci Soc Am J 72:1580–1590
Lopez-Pineiro A, Garcia Navarro A (1997) Potassium release kinetics and availability in unfertilized vertisols of south western Spain. Soil Sci 162:912–918
Lu C, Zhang X, Chen X, Shi Y, Ma J, Zhao M et al (2010) Fixation of labeled (15NH4)2SO4 and its subsequent release in black soil of Northeast China over consecutive crop cultivation. Soil Till Res 106:329–334
Lumbanraja J, Evangelou VP (1994) Adsorption–desorption of potassium and ammonium at low cation concentrations in three Kentucky soils. Soil Sci 157:269–278
Mengel K, Horn D, Tributh H (1990) Availability of interlayer ammonium as related to root vicinity and mineral type. Soil Sci 149:131–137
Nieder R, Benbi DK (2008) Carbon and nitrogen transformations in soils. In: Nieder R, Benbi DK (eds) Carbon and nitrogen in the terrestrial environment. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 137–159
Nieder R, Benbi DK, Scherer HW (2011) Fixation and defixation of ammonium in soils: a review. Biol Fertil Soils 47:1–14
Nommik H (1965) Ammonium fixation and other reactions involving non-enzymatic immobilization of mineral nitrogen in soils. In: Bartholomew WV, Clark FE (eds) Soil nitrogen. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, pp 198–258
Nommik H, Vahtras K (1982) Retention and fixation of ammonium and ammonia in soils. In: Stevenson FJ (ed) Nitrogen in agricultural soils. Agronomy 22:123–171
Parkhurst DL, Appelo CAJ (1999) User’s guide to PHREEQC (Version 2)-A computer program for speciation, batch-reaction, one-dimensional transport, and inverse geochemical calculations. United States Geological Survey, Water Resources Investigations Report 99–4259, Washington, DC, p 326
Pratt PF (1965) Potassium. In: Black CA (ed) Methods of soil analysis: Part 2. Chemical and microbiological properties. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, pp 1022–1030
Ranjbar F, Jalali M (2012) Measuring and modeling ammonium adsorption by calcareous soils. Environ Monit Assess 185:3191–3199
Scherer HW (1982) Fixed NH4–N in relation to EUF-extractable K. Plant Soil 64:67–71
Scherer HW, Ahrens G (1996) Depletion of non-exchangeable NH4 +–N in the soil–root interface in relation to clay mineral composition and plant species. Eur J Agron 5:1–7
Schneiders M, Scherer HW (1998) Fixation and release of ammonium in flooded rice soils as affected by redox potential. Eur J Agron 8:181–189
Steffens D, Sparks DL (1997) Kinetics of non-exchangeable ammonium release from soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 61:455–462
Steffens D, Sparks DL (1999) Effect of residence time on the kinetics of non-exchangeable ammonium release from illite and vermiculite. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci 162:599–604
Wang HY, Zhou JM, Du CW, Chen XQ (2010) Potassium fractions in soils as affected by monocalcium phosphate, ammonium sulfate, and potassium chloride application. Pedosphere 20(3):368–377
Welch LF, Scott AD (1960) Nitrification of fixed ammonium in clay minerals as affected by added potassium. Soil Sci 90:79–85
Zhang YZ, Huang SH, Wan DJ, Huang YX, Zhou WJ, Zou YB (2007) Fixed ammonium content and maximum capacity of ammonium fixation in major types of tillage soils in Hunan province, China. Agric Sci China 6(4):466–474
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ranjbar, F., Jalali, M. Empirical and Mechanistic Evaluation of NH +4 Release Kinetic in Calcareous Soils. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 66, 606–615 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-014-9996-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-014-9996-7