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Leaching of dissolved organic and inorganic nitrogen from legume-based grasslands

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Abstract

Leaching of dissolved inorganic N (DIN) and dissolved organic N (DON) is a considerable loss pathway in grassland soils. We investigated the white clover (Trifolium repens) contribution to N transport and temporal N dynamics in soil solution under a pure stand of white clover and white clover-ryegrass (Lolium perenne) mixed stand. The temporal white clover contribution to N leaching was analysed by 15N incorporation into DIN and DON in percolating soil solution collected at 25-cm depth following white clover 15N leaf labelling that was applied at different times during the growing season. The white clover contribution to N transport in the soil profile was investigated over 2 years by analysing 15N in DIN and DON in percolating soil solution collected at 25-, 45- and 80-cm depth following 15N leaf labelling of white clover. The results showed that clover was a source of both DIN and DON. White clover autumn deposition contributed the most to N leaching. The leaching of DIN from the white clover in pure stand exceeded that of the mixed stand and confirmed that leaching of DIN is a function of N loadings and N demand. The DON leaching was unaffected by the presence of a companion grass, suggesting that the DON leaching from our grassland derived from the lysis of soil microbial biomass living on recent white clover deposits. White clover contributed to the leaching of DIN and DON at all depths, and the fact that the contents of DI 15N and DO 15N did not change with depth indicated that surplus of DIN and DON, formed in the uppermost soil layer, was transported in the soil profile.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge Karin Dyrberg for technical assistance and Margit Schacht for proof reading. The work was funded by the Danish Council for Independent Research (Technology and Production Sciences) as a part of the project ‘Does white clover induce biennial bursts in N leaching from grassland?’ (Grant no. 10–082182).

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  1. Department of Agroecology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Aarhus University, Post Box 50, 8830, Tjele, Denmark

    Gedrimė Kušlienė, Jørgen Eriksen & Jim Rasmussen

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  1. Gedrimė Kušlienė
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  2. Jørgen Eriksen
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  3. Jim Rasmussen
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Correspondence to Gedrimė Kušlienė.

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Kušlienė, G., Eriksen, J. & Rasmussen, J. Leaching of dissolved organic and inorganic nitrogen from legume-based grasslands. Biol Fertil Soils 51, 217–230 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-014-0966-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-014-0966-z

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