Extractability of labelled microbial biomass N by electro-ultrafiltration and CaCl2 extraction

Abstract

A laboratory soil incubation and a pot experiment with ryegrass were carried out in order to examine the extractability of microbial biomass N by using either 10-mM CaCl2 extraction or the electro-ultrafiltration (EUF) method. The aim of the experiment was to test the hypothesis whether the organic N (Norg) extracted by EUF or CaCl2 from dried soil samples represents a part of the microbial biomass. For the laboratory incubation a 15N-labelled Escherichia coli suspension was mixed with the soil. For the pot experiment a suspension of 15N-labelled bacteria was applied which had previously been isolated from the soil used. Soil samples of both treatments, with and without applied bacterial suspension, were extracted by EUF and CaCl2. The extractability of applied microbial biomass was estimated from the difference in extractable Norg between the two treatments. In addition, the N isotopic composition in the upper plant matter, in the soil, and in organic and inorganic N fractions of EUF and CaCl2 extracts was analysed. Both experiments showed that the applied microbial biomass was highly accessible to mineralization and thus represented potentially mineralizable N. However, this mineralizable N was not extractable by CaCl2 or by the EUF method. It was, therefore, concluded that the organic N released on soil drying and which was thus extractable was derived from the non-biomass soil organic matter. The result suggests that both extraction methods may provide a suitable index for mineralizable N only in cases where the decomposable organic substrates are derived mainly from sources other than the living soil biota.