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Updated: Jul 25, 2026

Assessment of Labile Organic Carbon in Soil Using Sequential Fumigation Incubation Procedures
Published on: October 29, 2016
Effect of organic matter supplementation on nitrogen transformations in soils. I. Chemical and bacteriological
Abstract:
The effect of supplementation with different organic materials on nitrogen transformations and on certain bacterial groups in soil was studied. Addition of wide C/N ratio organic matter, sawdust and maize stalks prevented NO3-N from being lost through leaching out or dentrification and favoured the development of Azotobacter and N2-fixing clostridia that in turn resulted in marked gains in nitrogen through N2-fixation. Nitrifying bacteria were adversely affected. Application of such materials together with high amounts of NH4NO3 lessened nitrogen losses in drainage water but increased losses through denitrification. Nitrogen-rich organic matter resulted in higher losses in nitrates from soils in comparison to those of wide C/N ratio organic materials.
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