In Situ Evaluation of Net Nitrification Rate in Terra Rossa Soil Using a Fourier Transform Infrared Attenuated Total Reflection ¹⁵N Tracing Technique

Authors: Changwen, Du¹; Linker, Raphael²; Shaviv, Avi²; Jianmin, Zhou¹

Source: Applied Spectroscopy, Volume 63, Issue 10, Pages 268A-286A and 1089-1196, (October 2009) , pp. 1168-1173(6)

Publisher: Society for Applied Spectroscopy

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Abstract:

Nitrification and mineralization of organic nitrogen (N) are important N transformation processes in soil, and mass spectrometry is a suitable technique for tracing changes of ¹⁵N isotopic species of mineral N and estimating the rates of these processes. However, mass spectrometric methods for tracing N dynamics are costly, time consuming, and require long and laborious preparation procedures. This study investigates mid-infrared attenuated total reflection (ATR) spectroscopy as an alternative method for detecting changes in ¹⁴NO₃-N and ¹⁵NO₃-N concentrations. There is a significant shift of the ν₃ absorption band of nitrate according to N species, namely from the 1275 to 1460 cm⁻¹ region for ¹⁴NO₃⁻ to the 1240-1425 cm⁻¹ region for ¹⁵NO₃. This shift makes it possible to quantify the N isotopes using multivariate calibration methods. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) models with five factors yielded a determination error of 6.7-9.2 mg N L⁻¹ for aqueous solutions and 5.9-7.8 mg N kg⁻¹ (dry soil) for pastes of a Terra rossa soil. These PLSR models were used to monitor the changes of ¹⁵NO₃-N and ¹⁴NO₃-N content in the same Terra rossa soil during an incubation experiment in which [¹⁵NH₄]₂SO₄ was applied to the soil, allowing the estimation of the contributions of applied N and mineralized N to the net nitrification rate, the potential losses of the applied ¹⁵NH₄-N, and the net mineralization of soil organic N.

Keywords: NITRIFICATION; MINERALIZATION; FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY; ATTENUATED TOTAL REFLECTION; FT-IR-ATR SPECTROSCOPY; N ISOTOPES; PARTIAL LEAST SQUARES REGRESSION; PLSR

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1366/000370209789553246

Affiliations: 1: The State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008 China 2: Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel

Publication date: 2009-10-01

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