Transformations of mineral nitrogen applied to peat soil during sequential oxic/anoxic cycling

Shifts in oxic and anoxic conditions in soil are most frequently caused by water table fluctuations, heavy rain, snowmelt or flooding, with potentially significant impacts on microbial processes and the ability of soils to convert mineral nitrogen to nitrogen gases efficiently. The impact of oxic/anoxic cycles on nitrogen transformation rates was therefore explored in the upper layer (0–30 cm) of partially degraded peat soil. We hypothesized that high denitrification potential would be conserved due to the high organic matter content of this soil. Mineral nitrogen was applied to approximately 1-cm deep layers of homogenized soil in microcosms, with no external source of readily degradable carbon. Microcosms were subjected to three cycles, each consisting of an oxic phase of 8–11 days and an anoxic phase of 21–28 days. Approximately 2% of the ammonium load was lost through ammonia volatilization during oxic phases and the remainder was nitrified. The accumulated nitrate decreased soil pH from 8.0 to 6.8 before its transformation through denitrification. Nitrification and denitrification rates during the three oxic/anoxic cycles (approximately three months) were 2.9–3.2 kg N ha−1 d−1 and 1.0–2.3 kg N ha−1 d−1, respectively. Extrapolation of these values to 30-cm deep soil layers gave rates that were sufficient for complete transformation of at least 1700 kg N ha−1 of ammonium to nitrogen gases, which is ten-fold greater than the annual nitrogen application of 170 kg N ha−1 permitted by the European directive. Denitrification rates decreased linearly during the three cycles (from 36 ± 2 to 16 ± 1 μg N g−1 d−1 dry soil), projecting cessation of denitrification activity and CO2 production during the fifth cycle. Storage of peat soil at 4 °C most probably allowed slow degradation of organic matter that was completely oxidized to CO2 after the soil was exposed to higher temperature (28 °C). Storage of soil for one year did not affect nitrification rate, but reduced denitrification rate, unless soil was amended with a readily degradable carbon source. The data suggest that, despite the high carbon content of this soil, it cannot sustain transformations of high N loads to nitrogen gases for prolonged periods without amendment with readily available carbon.