Dynamics of soil microbial biomass and nitrogen availability in a flooded rice soil amended with different C and N sources

A greenhouse experiment was conducted to compare effects of different C and N sources applied to a flooded soil on soil microbial biomass (SMB) C and N, extractable soil organic N (N(ORG), and NH4(+)-N in relation to plant N accumulation of rice (Oryza sativa L.). In addition to a control without inputs (CON), four treatments were imposed receiving: prilled urea (PU), rice straw (RS), RS and PU (RS + PU), or Sesbania rostrata as green manure (SES). Treatments were arranged according to a completely randomized design with four replicates and further consisted of pots with and without transplanted rice. While plant effects on the SMB were relatively small, the application of organic N sources resulted in a rapid increase in SMB until 10 days after transplanting (DAT) followed by a gradual decline until 73 DAT. Plant N accumulation data in these treatments clearly indicated that the SMB underwent a transition from a sink to a source of plant-available soil N during the period of crop growth. Seasonal variation of the SMB was small in treatments without amendment of organic material (CON, PU) presumably due to a lack of available C as energy source. Extractable N(ORG) was significantly affected by soil planting status and organic N source amendment, but represented only a small N pool with little temporal variation despite an assumed rapid turnover. Among the three treatments receiving the same amount of N from different sources, the recovery efficiency of applied N was 58% for PU and 28% for both RS + PU and SES treatments at 73 DAT. The N uptake of rice, however, was not driven by N availability alone, as most evident in the RS + PU treatment. We assume that root physiological functions were impeded after application of organic N sources.