Field and Laboratory Studies of Nitrite Accumulation in Soils

Abstract

A field and laboratory study of nitrite accumulation under arable soil conditions was carried out using a considerable number of nitrogen fertilizers applied at various seasons of the year. The results show that nitrite will accumulate under neutral or alkaline soil conditions provided the rate of fertilization is heavy enough to produce a considerable concentration of the ammonium ion. Under field conditions, especially where the soils are not warm enough for rapid biological activity, the nitrite produced may persist for several months. For example, nitrite accumulating from urea applied in January (43 ppm N as NO2) persisted into May (31 ppm N). Amounts of nitrite up to 90 ppm N were produced under favorable conditions. More nitrite was produced from urea than any other nitrogen fertilizer. This is considered due to the high ammonia and pH conditions resulting from application of this material. In none of the field studies was there any evidence of nitrite accumulation from denitrification though occasionally heavy fertilization with nitrate fertilizer supplemented with straw was immediately followed by heavy rains or irrigation. From these studies, it appears that wherever two conditions occur, namely, fairly high ammonium concentrations and neutral or alkaline soil conditions, more or less nitrite accumulation may be expected.

Improving Nitrite Analysis in Soils: Drawbacks of the Conventional 2 M KCl Extraction

“…Despite the importance of soil NO 2 -to atmospheric chemistry (Su et al, 2011;Oswald et al, 2013) NO 2 -is rarely detected in soils, limiting our ability to observe linkages between soil N-cycling processes and atmospheric chemistry. In spite of the fast reactivity of NO 2 -in soils, however, it accumulates under at least two conditions: (i) when high soil ammonium (NH 4 + ) concentrations and pH adversely affect the microbes consuming NO 2 - (Chapman and Liebig, 1952;Van Cleemput and Abdullahi, 1996), and (ii) in drying soils where solutes concentrate in hydrologically disconnected microsites (Davidson et al, 1991;Xie et al, 2001;Nejidat, 2005;Gelfand and Yakir, 2008;Parker and Schimel, 2011).…”

Rapid changes in nitrite after gamma irradiation of fresh soils

“…The most probable explanation is that the expected microbial reduction of nitrite is beginning to build up. DISCUSSION Accumulation of nitrite has frequently been observed following the application of ammonium (Chapman & Liebig, 1952) or urea (Court, Stephen & Waid, 1964) to alkaline soils, resulting in ammonia toxicity towards Nitrobacter, and in waterlogged soils to which soluble carbon has been added to encourage dissimilatory nitrate reduction (true denitriflcation) (Bremner & Shaw, 1958;Greenwood, 1962). Cooper & Smith (1963) have suggested that in alkaline soils nitrite accumulates under waterlogging because its removal is the ratelimiting process for denitriflcation.…”

Essai de valorisation agricole de déchets industriels contenant de l'azote nitreux et nitrique

“…Van den Hende (1950) observe des dégâts (manques à la levée, brulûres de feuillage) sur certaines espèces cultivées, pour des doses de 100-160 kg d'azote.ha -1 et suggère une utilisation des sels nitreux comme désherbant. Si l'ion nitreux peut être directement assimilé et utilisé par la plante (Lemaire, 1969), il se révèle souvent toxique (Paul et Polle, 1965;Oke, 1966) dès que la concentration en azote nitreux atteint 50 mg.kg -1 de sol dans la rhizosphère (Goyal et Huffaker, 1982) (Chapman et Liebig, 1952;Tyler et al, 1959). Ce ralentissement est attribué à la présence d'ammoniac libre qui exerce une action inhibitrice sur Nitrobacter, en milieu acide l'acide nitreux non dissocié exercerait un effet semblable (Anthonisen et al, 1976).…”