Soil Organic N Forms and N Supply as Affected by Fertilization Under Intensive Rice Cropping System

Changes of soil organic nitrogen forms and soil nitrogen supply under continuous rice cropping system were investigated in a long-term fertilization experiment in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, China. The fertilizer treatments included combination of P-K, N-K, N-P, and N-P-K as well as the control. After six years of continuous double-rice cropping, total soil N and hydrolysable N contents remained stable in plots with N treatments, while the hydrolysable N contents were substantially reduced in those plots without N application. Compared to the unbalanced fertilization treatments, P and K increased the percentage of hydrolysable ammonium N in the total soil N with the balanced application of N, and also maintained higher rice grain yields and nitrogen uptake. Grain yield was positively correlated with total N uptake (r = 0.875**), hydrolysable N (r = 0.608**), hydrolysable ammonium N (r = 0.560**) and the hydrolysable unknown N (r = 0.417**). Total N uptake was positively correlated with hydrolysable N (r = 0.608**), hydrolysable ammonium N (r = 0.440**) and hydrolysable unknown N (r = 0.431**). Soil nutrient depletion and/or unbalanced fertilization to rice crop reduced N content in soil microbial biomass, and therefore increased C/N ratio, suggesting a negative effect on the total microbial biomass in the soil.

Relation of Mineralizable N to Organic N Components in Dark Loessial Soils

Mineralizable N and organic N components in different layers (0～15, 15～30,30～45, 45～60, 60～80 and 80～100 cm) of six soils with different fertilities sampled from YongshouCounty, Shaanxi Province, China, were determined by the aerobic incubation method and the Bremnerprocedure, respectively. Correlation, multiple regression and path analyses were performed to studythe relation of mineralizable N to organic N components. Results of correlation and regressionanalyses showed that the amounts of the N mineralized were parallel to, and significantly correlatedwith, the total acid hydrolyzable N, but was not so with the acid-insoluble N. Of the hydrolyzableN, the amino acid N and the ammonia N had a highly consistent significant correlation with themineralized N, and their partial regression coefficients were significant in the regressionequations, showing their importance in contribution to the mineralizable N. The amino sugar N, onthe other hand, had a relatively high correlation with the mineralized N, but their partialregression coefficients were not significant in the regression equations. In contrast, thehydrolyzable unknown N had no such relations. Path analysis further indicated that the amino acid Nand ammonia N made great direct contributions to the mineralized N, but the contributions of theamino sugar N were very low. These strongly suggested that the mineralized N in the soils tested wasmainly from the hydrolyzable N, particularly the amino acid N and ammonia N which are the majorsources for its production.

Effects of Soluble Organic N on Evaluating Soil N-Supplying Capacity

It is important to study the soluble organic N （SON） extracted during water-logged incubation for evaluating soil Nsupplying capacity. Soil initial SON and mineral N （Nmin）, cumulative soluble organic N and NH4＋-N in leachates during water-logged incubation, mineralization potentials of both easily decomposable N （ND） and resistant N （NR）, and their relationships with N uptake by crop in pot experiment were investigated by using 10 kinds of farmland soils with widely different physical and chemical properties on the Loess Plateau, China, and the effects of SON on evaluating soil Nsupplying capacity were studied. The results showed that the average content of initial SON （23.9 mg kg^-1） of 10 soils was 28.8% of initial total soluble N and 2.4% of soil total N. The percentage of cumulative SON in leaching total soluble N （118.1 mg kg^-1 was 46.4%, higher than the percentage of initial SON （28.8%）, and almost close to the percentage of cumulative NH4^＋-N in the leachates. ND had close correlation with total N, and the correlation coefficients were 0.92 （P 〈 0.01, excluding SON in estimating ND） and 0.88 （P 〈 0.01, including SON in estimating ND）, respectively. N mineralization potential and mineralization rate constant were different with the soil types. ND of Los-Orthic Entisols and Ust-Sandiic Entisols were lower than that of Eum-Orthrosols. Mineralization rate constant for the fast decomposable N-fraction （kD） decreased and the mineralization rate constant of resistant materials （kR） increased when SON was taken into account. Cumulative NH4^＋-N was a better evaluation index of soil N-supplying capacity, and it is not only suitable for the first season crops but also for two successive season crops. Cumulative SON alone was not a satisfactory index for the potential of mineralizable N. But it would be more accurate for ND in revealing the potential mineralizable N when SON was taken into account. Cumulative TSN, to some extent, could also be taken as an index for the potential mineralizable N. Cumulative NH4＋-N, total soluble N, and ND were good indexes for estimating soil potential mineralizable N, especially for soils of two successive season crops. And cumulative total soluble N and ND in evaluating the permanence of soil N-supply is of greater significance when SON was included.

Effects of Agricultural Practices on Soil Organic Nitrogen Fractions in an Inceptisol of a Cocoa Plantation

The effect of agricultural practices on soil organic nitrogen （N） fractions in a cocoa plantation has not been much revealed till now. Despite the fact that soil organic N has been long admitted for its importance to maintain soil fertility. Presented field experiment was conducted in Kaliwining Experimental Station, Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute （ICCRI）, Jember, East Java, Indonesia, to investigate the effect of cocoa farm management, namely fertilization, weeding and soil tillage on the content of soil organic N fractions. The design of experiment was arranged in a split-split plot with two levels of weeding as main plots, two levels of soil tillage as subplot and three different fertilizer treatments as sub-sub plot. The analysis of soil N including total N and soil organic N fractions, namely, total hydrolized N, ammonium N, amino sugar N and amino acid N, were performed. The result showed that the effect of fertilization treatment was significant to the content of total N, ammonium N, amino sugar N and amino acid N. No-tillage treatment resulted in total N and amino sugar-N content increasing by 8% and 24%, respectively, over tillage treatment. Slashing treatment caused increase of the total N by 3% from herbicide treatment, whilst decrease of ammonium N and amino sugar N by 7% and 24%, respectively.

Organic Geochemistry of the Early Jurassic Oil Shale from the Shuanghu Area in Northern Tibet and the Early Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event

This paper presents new geological and geochemical data from the Shuanghu area in northern Tibet, which recorded the Early Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event. The stratigraphic succession in the Shuanghu area consists mostly of grey to dark-colored alternating oil shales, marls and mudstones. Ammonite beds are found at the top of the Shuanghu oil shale section, which are principally of early Toarcian age, roughly within the Harplocearas falciferrum Zone. Therefore, the oil shale strata at Shuanghu can be correlated with early Toarcian black shales distributing extensively in the European epicontinental seas that contain the records of an Oceanic Anoxic Event. Sedimentary organic matter of laminated shale anomalously rich in organic carbon across the Shuanghu area is characterized by high organic carbon contents, ranging from 1.8% to 26.1%. The carbon isotope curve displays the δ 13C values of the kerogen (δ 13Ckerogen) fluctuating from –26.22 to –23.53‰ PDB with a positive excursion close to 2.17‰, which, albeit significantly smaller, may also have been associated with other Early Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Events (OAEs) in Europe. The organic atomic C/N ratios range between 6 and 43, and the curve of C/N ratios is consistent with that of the δ 13Ckerogen values. The biological assemblage, characterized by scarcity of benthic organisms and bloom of calcareous nannofossils (coccoliths), reveals high biological productivity in the surface water and an unfavorable environment for the benthic fauna in the bottom water during the Oceanic Anoxic Event. On the basis of organic geochemistry and characteristics of the biological assemblage, this study suggests that the carbon-isotope excursion is caused by the changes of sea level and productivity, and that the black shale deposition, especially oil shales, is related to the bloom and high productivity of coccoliths.

Changes in soil organic carbon and nitrogen after 26 years of farmland management on the Loess Plateau of China

Soil carbon（C） and nitrogen（N） play a crucial role in determining the soil and environmental quality. In this study, we investigated the effects of 26 years（from 1984 to 2010） of farmland management on soil organic carbon（SOC） and soil N in abandoned, wheat（Triticum aestivum L.） non-fertilized, wheat fertilized（mineral fertilizer and organic manure） and alfalfa（Medicago Sativa L.） non-fertilized treatments in a semi-arid region of the Loess Plateau, China. Our results showed that SOC and soil total N contents in the 0–20 cm soil layer increased by 4.29（24.4%） and 1.39 Mg/hm2（100%）, respectively, after the conversion of farmland to alfalfa land. Compared to the wheat non-fertilized treatment, SOC and soil total N contents in the 0–20 cm soil layer increased by 4.64（26.4%） and 1.18 Mg/hm2（85.5%）, respectively, in the wheat fertilized treatment. In addition, we found that the extents of changes in SOC, soil total N and mineral N depended on soil depth were greater in the upper soil layer（0–30 cm） than in the deeper soil layer（30–100 cm） in the alfalfa land or fertilizer-applied wheat land. Fertilizer applied to winter wheat could increase the accumulation rates of SOC and soil total N. SOC concentration had a significant positive correlation with soil total N concentration. Therefore, this study suggested that farmland management, e.g. the conversion of farmland to alfalfa forage land and fertilizer application, could promote the sequestrations of C and N in soils in semi-arid regions.

Carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of particulate organic matter and its biogeochemical implication in the Bering Sea

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of particulate organic matter （POM） were measured for samples collected from the Bering Sea in 2010 summer. Particulate organic carbon （POC） and particulate nitrogen （PN） showed high concentrations in the shelf and slope regions and decreased with depth in the slope and basin, indicating that biological processes play an important role on POM distribution. The low C/N ratio and heavy isotopic composition of POM, compared to those from the Alaska River, suggested a predominant contribution of marine biogenic organic matter in the Bering Sea. The fact thatδ^13Candδ^15Ngenerally increased with depth in the Bering Sea basin demonstrated that organic components with light carbon or nitrogen were decomposed preferentially during their transport to deep water. However, the highδ^13Candδ^15Nobserved in shelf bottom water were mostly resulted from sediment resuspension.

Effect of Simulated Acid Rain on Potential Carbon and Nitrogen Mineralization in Forest Soils

Acid rain is a serious environmental problem worldwide. In this study, a pot experiment using forest soils planted with the seedlings of four woody species was performed with weekly treatments of pH 4.40, 4.00, 3.52, and 3.05 simulated acid rain (SAR) for 42 months compared to a control of pH 5.00 lake water. The cumulative amounts of C and N mineralization in the five treated soils were determined after incubation at 25 ℃ for 65 d to examine the effects of SAR treatments. For all five treatments, cumulative CO2-C production ranged from 20.24 to 27.81 mg kg-1 dry soil, net production of available N from 17.37 to 48.95 mg kg-1 dry soil, and net production of NO-3 -N from 9.09 to 46.23 mg kg-1 dry soil. SAR treatments generally enhanced the emission of CO2-C from the soils; however, SAR with pH 3.05 inhibited the emission. SAR treatments decreased the net production of available N and NO3-N. The cumulative CH4 and N2O productions from the soils increased with increasing amount of simulated acid rain. The cumulative CO2-C production and the net production of available N of the soil under Acmena acuminatissima were significantly higher (P ≤ 0.05) than those under Schima superba and Cryptocarya concinna. The mineralization of soil organic C was related to the contents of soil organic C and N, but was not related to soil pH. However, the overall effect of acid rain on the storage of soil organic matter and the cycling of important nutrients depended on the amount of acid deposition and the types of forests.

Effect of N Fertilizers on Root Growth and Endogenous Hormones in Strawberry

Endogenous hormones play an important role in the growth and development of roots. The objective of this research was to study the effect of four types of N fertilizers on the root growth of strawberry (Fragaria ananassa Duchesne) and the endogenous enzymes of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), abscisic acid (ABA), and isopentenyl adenosine (iPA) in its roots and leaves using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Application of all types of N fertilizers significantly depressed (P ≤ 0.05) root growth at 20 d after transplanting. Application of organic-inorganic fertilizer (OIF) as basal fertilizer had a significant negative effect (P ≤ 0.05) on root growth. The application of OIF and urea lowered the lateral root frequency in strawberry plants at 60 d (P ≤ 0.05) compared with the application of two organic fertilizers (OFA and OFB) and the control (CK). With the fertilizer treatments, there were the same concentrations of IAA and ABA in both roots and leaves at the initial growth stage (20 d), lower levels of IAA and ABA at the later stage (60 d), and higher iPA levels at all seedling stages as compared to those of CK. Thus, changes in the concentrations of endogenous phytohormones in strawberry plants could be responsible for the morphological changes of roots due to fertilization.

Dynamics of Nitrogen Speciation in Horticultural Soils in Suburbs of Shanghai,China

Dissolved organic nitrogen （DON） represents a significant pool of soluble nitrogen （N） in soil ecosystems. Soil samples under three different horticultural management practices were collected from the Xiaxiyang Organic Vegetable and Fruit Farm, Shanghai, China, to investigate the dynamics of N speciation during 2 months of aerobic incubation, to compare the effects of different soils on the mineralization of ^14C-labeled amino acids and peptides, and to determine which of the pathways in the decomposition and subsequent ammonification and nitrification of organic N represented a significant blockage in soil N supply. The dynamics of N speciation was found to be significantly affected by mineralization and immobilization. DON, total free amino acids, and NH^＋-N were maintained at very low levels and did not accumulate, whereas NO3^--N gradually accumulated in these soils. The conversion of insoluble organic N to low-molecular-weight （LMW） DON represented a main constraint to N supply, while conversions of LMW DON to NH4^＋-N and NH4^＋-N to NO3^--N did not. Free amino acids and peptides were rapidly mineralized in the soils by the microbial community and consequently did not accumulate in soil. Turnover rates of the additional amino acids and peptides were soil-dependent and generally followed the order of organic soil 〉 transitional soil 〉 conventional soil. The turnover of high-molecular-weight DON was very slow and represented the major DON loss. Further studies are needed to investigate the pathways and bottlenecks of organic N degradation.

Carbon and Nitrogen Transformations in Surface Soils Under Ermans Birch and Dark Coniferous Forests

Soil samples were taken from an Ermans birch （Betula ermanii）-dark coniferous forest （Picea jezoensis and Abies nephrolepis） ecotone growing on volcanic ejecta in the northern slope of Changbai Mountains of Northeast China, to compare soil carbon （C） and nitrogen （N） transformations in the two forests. The soil type is Umbri-Gelic Cambosols in Chinese Soil Taxonomy. Soil samples were incubated aerobically at 20℃ and field capacity of 700 g kg^-1 over a period of 27 weeks. The amount of soil microbial biomass and net N mineralization were higher in the Ermans birch than the dark coniferous forest （P 〈 0.05）, whereas the cumulative C mineralization （as CO2 emission） in the dark coniferous forest exceeded that in the Ermans birch （P 〈 0.05）. Release of the cumulative dissolved organic C and dissolved organic N were greater in the Ermans birch than the dark coniferous forest （P 〈 0.05）. The results suggested that differences of forest types could result in considerable change in soil C and N transformations.

Effects of Tillage Management Systems on Residue Cover and Decomposition

The effects of tillage methods on percent surface residue cover remaining and decomposition rates of crop residues were evaluated in this study. The line transect method was used to measure residue cover percentage on continuous corn ( Zea mays L.) plots under no tillage (NT), conventional tillage (CT), chisel plow (CH), and disk tillage (DT). Samples of rye ( Secale cereale L.) and hairy vetch ( Vicia villosa Roth) were used for residue decomposition study. Results showed that the percentage of residue cover remaining was significantly higher for NT than for CH and DT and that for CT was the lowest (<10%). For the same tillage system, the percent residue cover remaining was significantly higher in the higher fertilizer N rate treatments relative to the lower fertilizer N treatments. Weight losses of rye and vetch residues followed a similar pattern under CT and DT, and they were significantly faster in CT and DT than in NT system. Also, the amounts of residue N remaining during the first 16 weeks were always higher under NT than under CT and DT.

Effect of Land Use Pattern on Mineralization of Residual C and N from Plant Materials Decomposing Under Field Conditions

Four kinds of plant materials (astragalus, azolla, rice straw and water hyacinth) were allowed to decompose for 10 years in two soils with different mineralogical characteristics in fields under upland and submerged conditions. Greater amounts of C and N from azolla were retained in soils throughout the 10-year experimental period compared to those from the other plant materials. The residual C Of all the plant materials in the two soils under upland conditions mineralized st rates corresponding to half-lives between 4.4-6.6 years,while the corresponding figures for thine under submerged conditions were between 6.5-13.1 years. Minerallization of residual organic N followed the same pattern as residual C. Compared to residual C, however, the mineralization rates of residual organic N in most cases were significantly lower and the percentages of added N regained in sons were higher. More N from plat materials was retained in the yellow-brown soil than in the red soil, but no consistent differences in the amounts of C from plant materials and in the mineralization rates of both residual C and residual organic N between the two soils could be found.

Mineralization and Transformation of Nitrogen Derived from Plant Materials in Soils over 10 Years

Results of a 10-year decomposition experiment indicated that the annual mineralization rate of organic N in newly-formed humus varied with the type of original plant materials and the water regimes for decomposition, ranging from 0.028 to 0.074. The mineralization rate under waterlogged conditions was higher than that under upland conditions. The proportion of α-amino acid N in humus newly-formed under waterlogged conditions was slightly higher than that under upland conditions. It decreased gradually with time, while the proportion of nonhydrolyzable N showed no consistent trend, irrespective of the water regimes for decomposition. The distribution of amino acids in humus newly- formed from different plant materials under various water regimes was quite similar with that in original plant materials, and only minor differences could be found among them. For example, in comparison to original plant materials, the newly-formed humus contained higher proportions of isoleucine, cystine, γ-amino-butync acid and ornithine, and lower proportions of phenylalanine and proline. Moreover the proportion of phenylalanine was higher in the humus newly-formed under waterlogged conditions than that under upland conditions.

Soil type and wetting intensity control the enhancement extent of N_(2)O efflux in soil with drought and rewetting cycles

Climate change alters the intensity and frequency of drought and rewetting(D/W)events;however,the influence patterns of D/W on soil N_(2)O efflux in the water-limited area were not fully understood.Therefore,the impacts of D/W cycles varying in different extent of rewetting and frequency to N_(2)O efflux in two kinds of soil on the Loess Plateau were investigated.The incubation conditions consisted of 1)D/W treatments with four 7-day cycles from 10%water holding capacity(WHC)to 60%WHC or 90%WHC,2)constant moisture of 60%WHC and 90%WHC.The pulse of N_(2)O efflux rate under 10-60%WHC treatment was higher than that under 10-90%WHC treatment in calcic cambisols,while opposite trend was observed in earth-cumuli-orthic anthrosols.Meanwhile,the pulse of N_(2)O efflux rate decreased as cycle number increased for different wetting intensities and soil types.The direct N_(2)O efflux under 10-60%WHC and 10-90%WHC treatments were 5.49 and 1.89μg N_(2)O-N g^(-1)soil in calcic cambisols,with those being 1.92 and 10.85μg N_(2)O-N g^(-1)soil in earth-cumuli-orthic anthrosols,respectively.The N loss in earth-cumuli-orthic anthrosols was approximately 5.74 times greater than that in calcic cambisols under 10-90%WHC treatment,whereas the N loss under 10-60%WHC treatment was about 2.86 times greater in calcic cambisols than that in earth-cumuli-orthic anthrosols.This study suggested that extreme rainfall events can enhance the N_(2)O efflux and N loss in agricultural soils on the Loess Plateau in terms of soil type and wetting intensity,which should not be ignored in the N fertilizer management.

Impact of Salinity on Respiration and Organic Matter Dynamics in Soils is More Closely Related to Osmotic Potential than to Electrical Conductivity

Osmotic potential （OP） of soil solution may be a more appropriate parameter than electrical conductivity （EC） to evaluate the effect of salts on plant growth and soil biomass. However, this has not been examined in detail with respect to microbial activity and dissolved organic matter in soils with different texture. This study evaluated the effect of salinity and sodicity on respiration and dissolved organic matter dynamics in salt-affected soils with different texture. Four non-saline and non-sodic soils differing in texture （S-4, S-13, S-24 and S-40 with 4%, 13%, 24~ and 40~~ clay, respectively） were leached using combinations of 1 mol L-1 NaC1 and 1 mol L-1 CaC12 stock solutions, resulting in EC （1：5 soil：water ratio） between 0.4 and 5.0 dS m-1 with two levels of sodicity （sodium absorption ratio （SAR） 〈 3 （non-sodic） and 20 （sodic）, 1：5 soil：water ratio）. Adjusting the water content to levels optimal for microbial activity~ which differed among the soils, resulted in four ranges of OP in all the soils： from -0.06 to -0.24 （controls, without salt added）, -0.55 to -0.92, -1.25 to -1.62 and -2.77 to -3.00 Mpa. Finely ground mature wheat straw （20 g kg-1） was added to stimulate microbial activity. At a given EC, cumulative soil respiration was lower in the lighter-textured soils （S-4 and S-13） than in the heavier-textured soils （S-24 and S-40）. Cumulative soil respiration decreased with decreasing OP to a similar extent in all the soils, with a greater decrease on Day 40 than on Day 10. Cumulative soil respiration was greater at SAR ---- 20 than at SAR 〈 3 only at the OP levels between -0.62 and -1.62 MPa on Day 40. In all the soils and at both sampling times, concentrations of dissolved organic C and N were higher at the lowest OP levels （from -2.74 to -3.0 MPa） than in the controls （from -0.06 to -0.24 MPa）. Thus, OP is a better parameter than EC to evaluate the effect of salinity on dissolved organic matter and microbial activity in different textured soils.

Digital discrimination of neutron and γ ray using an organic scintillation detector based on wavelet transform modulus maximum

A novel algorithm for the discrimination of neutron and y-ray events with wavelet transform modulus maximum（WTMM） in an organic scintillation has been investigated.Voltage pulses arising from a BC501A organic liquid scintillation detector in a mixed radiation field have been recorded with a fast digital sampling oscilloscope.The WTMM method using frequency-domain features exhibits a strong insensitivity to noise and can be used to discriminate neutron and y-ray events based on their different asymptotic decay trend between the positive modulus maximum curve and the negative modulus maximum curve in the scale-space plane.This technique has been verified by the corresponding mixed-field data assessed by the time-of-flight（TOF） method and the charge comparison（CC）method.It is shown that the characterization of neutron and y ray achieved by the discrimination method based on WTMM is consistent with that afforded by the TOF method and better than the CC method.Moreover,the WTMM method itself has presented its ability to eliminate the noise without any pretreatment to the pulses.

Effects of different forms of nitrogen addition on microbial extracellular enzyme activity in temperate grassland soil

Background:Nitrogen(N)deposition alters litter decomposition and soil carbon(C)sequestration by influencing the microbial community and its enzyme activity.Natural atmospheric N deposition comprises of inorganic N(IN)and organic N(ON)compounds.However,most studies have focused on IN and its effect on soil C cycling,whereas the effect of ON on microbial enzyme activity is poorly understood.Here we studied the effects of different forms of externally supplied N on soil enzyme activities related to decomposition in a temperate steppe.Ammonium nitrate was chosen as IN source,whereas urea and glycine were chosen as ON sources.Different ratios of IN to ON(Control,10:0,7:3,5:5,3:7,and 0:10)were mixed with equal total amounts of N and then used to fertilize the grassland soils for 6 years.Results:Our results show that IN deposition inhibited lignin-degrading enzyme activity,such as phenol oxidase(POX)and peroxidase(PER),which may restrain decomposition and thus induce accumulation of recalcitrant organic C in grassland soils.By contrast,deposition of ON and mixed ON and IN enhanced most of the C-degrading enzyme activities,which may promote the organic matter decomposition in grassland soils.In addition,theβ-N-acetyl-glucosaminidase(NAG)activity was remarkably stimulated by fertilization with both IN and ON,maybe because of the elevated N availability and the lack of N limitation after long-term N fertilization at the grassland site.Meanwhile,differences in soil pH,soil dissolved organic carbon(DOC),and microbial biomass partially explained the differential effects on soil enzyme activity under different forms of N treatments.Conclusions:Our results emphasize the importance of organic N deposition in controlling soil processes,which are regulated by microbial enzyme activities,and may consequently change the ecological effect of N deposition.Thus,more ON deposition may promote the decomposition of soil organic matter thus converting C sequestration in grassland soils into a C source.

Relationships Between Abundance of Microbial Functional Genes and the Status and Fluxes of Carbon and Nitrogen in Rice Rhizosphere and Bulk Soils

Rapid nitrogen(N) transformations and losses occur in the rice rhizosphere through root uptake and microbial activities. However,the relationships between rice roots and rhizosphere microbes for N utilization are still unclear. We analyzed different N forms(NH+4,NO-3, and dissolved organic N), microbial biomass N and C, dissolved organic C, CH4 and N2O emissions, and abundance of microbial functional genes in both rhizosphere and bulk soils after 37-d rice growth in a greenhouse pot experiment. Results showed that the dissolved organic C was significantly higher in the rhizosphere soil than in the non-rhizosphere bulk soil, but microbial biomass C showed no significant difference. The concentrations of NH+4, dissolved organic N, and microbial biomass N in the rhizosphere soil were significantly lower than those of the bulk soil, whereas NO-3in the rhizosphere soil was comparable to that in the bulk soil. The CH4 and N2O fluxes from the rhizosphere soil were much higher than those from the bulk soil. Real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that the abundance of seven selected genes, bacterial and archaeal 16 S rRNA genes, amoA genes of ammonia-oxidizing archaea and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, nosZ gene, mcrA gene, and pmoA gene, was lower in the rhizosphere soil than in the bulk soil, which is contrary to the results of previous studies. The lower concentration of N in the rhizosphere soil indicated that the competition for N in the rhizosphere soil was very strong, thus having a negative effect on the numbers of microbes. We concluded that when N was limiting, the growth of rhizosphere microorganisms depended on their competitive abilities with rice roots for N.

Effect of temperature on anoxic metabolism of nitrites to nitrous oxide by polyphosphate accumulating organisms

Temperature is an important physical factor, which strongly influences biomass and metabolic activity. In this study, the effects of temperature on the anoxic metabolism of nitrite （NO2） to nitrous oxide （N2O） by polyphosphate accumulating organisms, and the process of the accumulation of N2O （during nitrite reduction）, which acts as an electron acceptor, were investigated using 91% ：e 4% Candidatus Accumulibacterphosphatis sludge. The results showed that N2O is accumulated when Accumulibacter first utilize nitrite instead of oxygen as the sole electron acceptor during the denitrifying phosphorus removal process. Properties such as nitrite reduction rate, phosphorus uptake rate, N2O reduction rate, and polyhydroxyalkanoate degradation rate were all influenced by temperature variation （over the range from 10 to 30℃ reaching maximum values at 25℃）. The reduction rate of N2O by N2O reductase was more sensitive to temperature when N2O was utilized as the sole electron acceptor instead of NO2, and the N2O reduction rates, ranging from 0.48 to 3.53 N2O-N/（hr.g VSS）, increased to 1.45 to 8.60 mg N2O-N/（hr·g VSS）. The kinetics processes for temperature variation of 10 to 30℃ were （01 = 1.140-1.216 and θ2 = 1.139-1.167）. In the range of 10℃ to 30℃, almost all of the anoxic stoichiometry was sensitive to temperature changes. In addition, a rise in N2O reduction activity leading to a decrease in N2O accumulation in long term operations at the optimal temperature （27℃ calculated by the Arrhenius model）.