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Relationships between microbial physiological status and nitrogen availability in forest soils

Although the physiological nitrogen demand of the soil microbial biomass is a major determinant of N mineralization in forest soils, the exact nature of the relationship is unclear. This study investigated the relationships between a respiration-based indicator of microbial physiological N demand (NIR) and N availability in forest soils. NIR was found to correlate significantly with net mineralized N in the field and annual foliar litterfall N fluxes. In a laboratory incubation, NIR was shown to be sensitive to changes in soil available C and N pools. These results demonstrated that microbial physiological N demand is determined by relative availabilities of labile C and N, and that it is significantly related to N cycling in forest soils. Results from a seasonal study of a forested watershed suggest that nutrient availability determined tree production and soil C availability, which in turn determined microbial physiological N demand and nitrogen dynamics in the forest.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.21506
Date January 1998
CreatorsAu, William R.
ContributorsFyles, J. W. (advisor)
PublisherMcGill University
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Formatapplication/pdf
CoverageMaster of Science (Department of Natural Resource Sciences.)
RightsAll items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
Relationalephsysno: 001657194, proquestno: MQ50713, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest.

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