The relationship between the granulometric composition of grassland soils and their content of mineral nitrogen and organic carbon

Abstract

The study analysed the relationship between the granulometric composition of grassland soils as determined by laser diffraction and their content of mineral forms of nitrogen and organic carbon. The content of mineral forms of nitrogen (NO 3-N and NH 4-N) in soil samples – after their extraction with 1% solution K 2SO 4, was determined by flow colourimetry. Soil organic carbon content was determined using the Tyurin method. The study examined soil samples collected from 169 control and measurement sites located in different regions of Poland in terms of conditions for agricultural production. Statistical analyses of the research results showed that the grain size of grassland soils had a significant effect on their ammonium nitrogen content but not on their nitrate nitrogen and organic carbon content. In this respect, it was found that there was a positive correlation between the share of the sand fraction and the content of ammonium nitrogen in soils and an opposite relation between the share of coarse silt, fine silt and clay and the content of the aforementioned component. Results of the analyses differ considerably from the results of studies by other authors on the influence of soil grain size distribution on the content of mineral nitrogen and organic carbon in soils based on classical methods of measurements of soil particle size distribution. There is a need to develop solutions to convert and compare results obtained by laser diffraction and standard methods.