Decomposition of plant material in Australian soils. III. Residual organic and microbial biomass C and N from isotope-labelled legume material and soil organic matter, decomposing under field conditions

Abstract

After eight years decomposition of 14C, 15N-labelled legume (Medicago littoralis) material previously mixed into topsoils (0-10 cm) at four field sites in South Australia, residual organic 14C and 15N to 30 cm depth accounted for respectively 11-13% of input 14C, and 31-38% of input 15N. About 90% of the residual organic 14C and 70-80% of the residual l15N was recovered in topsoils. For sites in similar rainfall areas, soils of heavier texture retained slightly greater amounts of 14C and15N-labelled residues. Throughout the eight-year experimental period, the rates of decline of residual organic 14C and 15N exceeded those of native soil organic C and N. A comparison of the decline of organic 14C in topsoils, averaged for the four South Australian sites, with the average decline reported for 14C-labelled plant residues in soils at English and Nigerian field sites, suggests that net decomposition rates doubled approximately for an 8-9°C rise in mean annual air temperatures. Microbial biomass 14C and 15N of topsoils with time accounted for decreasing proportions of total biomass C and N, and of residual organic I4C and I5N. The relatively greater retention after eight years of biomass 14C and 15N in soils of heavier texture is consistent with the concept that the net decay of C and N in soils is dependent upon the turnover of biomass C and N, and that decay rates are decreased in soils which have the greater capacity to protect decomposer populations.