Effects of urease and nitrification inhibitors on soil N, nitrifier abundance and activity in a sandy loam soil

Fu, Qingling; Abadie, Ma�der; Blaud, Aimeric; Carswell, Alison; Misselbrook, Tom H.; Clark, Ian M.; Hirsch, Penny R.

Abstract

Inhibitors of urease and ammonia monooxygenase can limit the rate of conversion of urea to ammonia and ammonia to nitrate, respectively, potentially improving N fertilizer use efficiency and reducing gaseous losses. Winter wheat grown on a sandy soil in the UK was treated with urea fertilizer with the urease inhibitor N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT), the nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide (DCD) or a combination of both. The effects on soil microbial community diversity, the abundance of genes involved in nitrification and crop yields and net N recovery were compared. The only significant effect on N-cycle genes was a transient reduction in bacterial ammonia monooxygenase abundance following DCD application. However, overall crop yields and net N recovery were significantly lower in the urea treatments compared with an equivalent application of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, and significantly less for urea with DCD than the other urea treatments.

Citation

Fu, Q., Abadie, M., Blaud, A., Carswell, A., Misselbrook, T. H., Clark, I. M., & Hirsch, P. R. (2020). Effects of urease and nitrification inhibitors on soil N, nitrifier abundance and activity in a sandy loam soil. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 56(2), 185-194. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-019-01411-5

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 22, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Nov 25, 2019
• Publication Date: 2020-02
• Deposit Date: Dec 5, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 5, 2019
• Journal: Biology and Fertility of Soils
• Print ISSN: 0178-2762
• Electronic ISSN: 1432-0789
• Publisher: BMC
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 56
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 185-194
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-019-01411-5
• Keywords: Urea fertilizer, Urease inhibitor, Nitrification inhibitor, Arable soil, Soil microbial diversity, Nitrification genes
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/2373783