Comparison of soil parameters of the carbon and nitrogen cycles in a long-term fertilization field experiment

Abstract

In a long-term fertilization field experiment set up in Debrecen-Látókép in 1983 on calcareous chernozem soil the changes in the chemical and microbiological characteristics related to the carbon and nitrogen cycles of the soil are shown and evaluated. The soil samples were taken in the 26th and 27th years of the experiment, (in 2009, 2010) from maize monoculture and tri-culture. In addition to the effects of fertilizer doses, correlations among soil chemical and microbiological properties were established; and the various ratios among some microbiological parameters were also evaluated.The elements of NPK fertilizers increased together with the doses, so the elements’ effect cannot be separated, the minimum factor is not identifiable.With increasing fertilizer doses, the soil pH decreased in both the mono- and triculture, parallelly there was a significant increase in hydrolytic acidity. A close negative correlation was proved between the pH(H2O) and hydrolytic acidity and pH(KCl) and hydrolytic acidity. An increased soil nutrient content was recorded in each NPK treatment, the available phosphorus and nitrate content increased in a higher proportion than that of potassium.Among the measured parameters of the carbon and nitrogen cycles fertilization had a positive influence on the organic carbon (OC), organic nitrogen (ON), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) contents, the number of cellulose decomposing and nitrifying bacteria, the nitrate exploration and CO2-production, while it mainly had negative effects on the investigated enzymes (saccharase and urease) activity.Evaluating the ratios among the measured parameters, fertilization seems to have promoted the increase in nitrogen-containing organic compounds, because the OC/ON and MBC/MBN ratios decreased due to the effect of different doses of NPK fertilizers in both cultures.