Soil gross nitrogen transformations in forestland and cropland of Regosols

Soil gross nitrogen (N) transformations could be influenced by land use change, however, the differences in inherent N transformations between different land use soils are still not well understood under subtropical conditions. In this study, an ¹⁵N tracing experiment was applied to determine the influence of land uses on gross N transformations in Regosols, widely distributed soils in Southwest China. Soil samples were taken from the dominant land use types of forestland and cropland. In the cropland soils, the gross autotrophic nitrification rates (mean 14.54 ± 1.66 mg N kg^-1 day^-1) were significantly higher, while the gross NH₄⁺ immobilization rates (mean 0.34 ± 0.10 mg N kg^-1 day^-1) were significantly lower than those in the forestland soils (mean 1.99 ± 0.56 and 6.67 ± 0.74 mg N kg^-1 day^-1, respectively). The gross NO₃^- immobilization and dissimilatory NO₃^- reduction to NH₄⁺ (DNRA) rates were not significantly different between the forestland and cropland soils. In comparison to the forestland soils (mean 0.51 ± 0.24), the cropland soils had significantly lower NO₃^- retention capacities (mean 0.01 ± 0.01), indicating that the potential N losses in the cropland soils were higher. The correlation analysis demonstrated that soil gross autotrophic nitrification rate was negatively and gross NH₄⁺ immobilization rate was positively related to the SOC content and C/N ratio. Therefore, effective measures should be taken to increase soil SOC content and C/N ratio to enhance soil N immobilization ability and NO₃^- retention capacity and thus reduce NO₃^- losses from the Regosols.