Elsevier, Forest Ecology and Management, 3(262), p. 571-578, 2011
DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2011.04.027
Full text: Unavailable
The effects of 4years of simulated nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) depositions on gross N transformations in a boreal forest soil in the Athabasca oil sands region (AOSR) in Alberta, Canada, were investigated using the 15N pool dilution method. Gross NH4+ transformation rates in the organic layer tended to decline (P<0.10, marginal statistical significance, same below) in the order of control (CK, i.e., no N or S addition), +N (30kgNha-1yr-1), +S (30kgSha-1yr-1), and +NS treatments, with an opposite trend in the mineral soil. Gross NH4+ immobilization rates were generally higher than gross N mineralization rates across the treatments, suggesting that the studied soil still had potential for microbial immobilization of NH4+, even after 4years of elevated levels of simulated N and S depositions. For both soil layers, N addition tended to increase (P<0.10) the gross nitrification and NO3- immobilization rates. In contrast, S addition reduced (P<0.001) and increased (P<0.001) gross nitrification as well as tended (P<0.10) to reduce and increase gross NO3- immobilization rates in the organic and mineral soils, respectively. Gross nitrification and gross NO3- immobilization rates were tightly coupled in both soil layers. The combination of rapid NH4+ cycling, negligible net nitrification rates and the small NO3- pool size after 4years of elevated N and S depositions observed here suggest that the risk of NO3- leaching would be low in the studied boreal forest soil, consistent with N leaching measurements in other concurrent studies at the site that are reported elsewhere.