Transformations of nitrogen fertilizers in soil

The effects of 15N-labelled urea, (NH4)2SO4 and KNO3 on immobilization, mineralization, nitrification and ammonium fixation were examined under aerobic conditions in an acid tropical soil (pH 4.0) and in a neutral temperate soil (pH 6.8). Urea, (NH4)2SO4 and KNO3 slightly increased net mineralization of soil organic nitrogen in both soils. There was also an apparent Added Nitrogen Interaction (ANI) i.e. added labelled NH4-N stood proxy for unlabelled NH4-N that would otherwise have been immobilized. So far as immobilization and nitrification were concerned, urea and (NH4)2SO4 behaved very similarly in each soil. Immobilization of NO3-N was negligible in both soils. Some of the added labelled NH4-N was rapidly fixed, more by the temperate soil than by the tropical soil. This labelled fixed NH4-N decreased during incubation, in contrast to labelled organic N, which did not decline.