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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 46(8)

Carbon and N turnover in moist sandy soil following short exposure to a range of high soil temperature regimes

J. Luxhøi A C D , I. R. P. Fillery B , S. Recous B C and L. S. Jensen A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Faculty of Life Sciences, The University of Copenhagen, DK-1871 Frederiksberg C, Denmark.

B CSIRO, Plant Industry, Private Bag 5, PO Wembley, WA 6913, Australia.

C INRA, UMR614 FARE, F-51000 Reims, France.

D Corresponding author. Email: jelu@life.ku.dk

Australian Journal of Soil Research 46(8) 710-718 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR08044
Submitted: 5 March 2008  Accepted: 10 October 2008   Published: 2 December 2008

Abstract

Laboratory experiments were undertaken to examine the effects of high soil temperatures on N biotransformations in sandy soils. Soils were incubated at 30°, 40°, 50°, and 60°C for 2 days, before all treatments were kept at 30°C for up to 41 days. Another laboratory experiment evaluated the effect of different cycles of exposure to 50° and 30°C, including frequency and duration of exposure to 50°C, to assess the sensitivity of N biotransformations to temporary increases in temperature in the high range. CO2-C production, soil microbial biomass-C, gross N mineralisation, gross N immobilisation, and potential gross nitrification were measured. Gross N mineralisation and CO2-C production increased with temperature (in the range 30°−50°C) and exhibited a Q10-relationship close to 2. Between 50° and 60°C, Q10 was closer to 2.8. The increase in gross N mineralisation and CO2-C production after exposure to 50° and 60°C is attributed to the decomposition of dead microbial biomass by the viable microbial population but this flush in activity was short-lived. Immobilisation rate was always low and remained unaffected by the temperature regime, probably because the growth of the microbial biomass was inhibited at the higher temperatures. This imbalance between gross N mineralisation and immobilisation resulted in rapid increases in mineral N in soil. Two 6-h cycles of 50°C interspersed with 30°C were equally as effective as a single 48-h exposure at stimulating CO2 production. Evidence of uncoupling CO2 production and gross N mineralisation was observed in one study where soil was incubated at 50°C, but this response was not universal. The nitrification process was totally suppressed by exposure to temperature higher than 40°C, probably due to thermal denaturation of enzymes. The relevance of findings to field conditions is discussed.


Acknowledgments

CSIRO Plant Industry, the Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, INRA (France), and the University of Western Australia jointly funded the work reported. The work was done as Jesper Luxhøi (JL) and Sylvie Recous (SR) were on leave at CSIRO, Wembley. JL and SR gratefully acknowledge the receipt of funds from the Ellen, Christian and Anders Petersens Foundation (JL) and INRA (SR) to support travel to Australia. We thank Chunya Zhu for her excellent laboratory skills.


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