Abstract:
Objective Nitrification is a key process in soil nitrogen (N) transformation, in which ammonia oxidation serves as the rate-limiting step. Clarifying the effects of ammonium N fertilizer application on the soil nitrification process, as well as on the abundance and community structure of ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms, is essential for improving N use efficiency in farmland and optimizing N fertilizer management.
Method In this study, calcareous purple soil was used as the test soil, and a pot experiment was conducted with four treatments: no N application (CK), low N fertilizer (N1, 0.1 g kg−1), regular N fertilizer (N2, 0.2 g kg−1), and high N fertilizer (N3, 0.4 g kg−1). Soil physicochemical properties, potential nitrification rate, and the gene abundance and community composition of ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms were analyzed to explore the effects of ammonium N fertilizer rates on the nitrification process and microbial responses in purple soil.
Result With increasing application rates of ammonium N fertilizer, soil pH showed a significant decreasing trend (P < 0.05), with reductions of 0.4, 0.7, and 1.4 units under the N1, N2 and N3 treatments, respectively. Compared to CK. The contents of total nitrogen (TN), ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) and alkali-hydrolyzable N (AN) significantly increased (P < 0.05), ranging from 20.5% - 180.8%, 46.1% - 93.4%, and 150.2% - 821.6% across fertilization treatments, respectively. The highest soil nitrification potential was observed under the N2 treatment, which was 34.2% and 66.1% higher than those of the CK and N1 treatments, respectively (P < 0.05). The amoA gene copy numbers of both ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) exhibited an increasing-then-decreasing trend with rising N application rates. Community structure analysis revealed that the dominant AOA phyla in purple soil were Crenarchaeota and Thaumarchaeota, while the dominant AOB phylum was Proteobacteria, with Nitrosospira being the dominant genus. Among the soil parameters altered by fertilization, TN, NH4+-N and NO3−-N were the main factors shaping the community structures of AOA and AOB. Further correlation analysis showed a highly significant positive relationship between AOB amoA gene abundance and soil nitrification potential, indicating that AOB play a predominant role in the nitrification process of purple soil.
Conclusion High N fertilization enhanced soil nutrient levels but also decreased pH, thereby significantly altering the abundance and community structure of ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms. Under different ammonium N fertilizer application levels, AOB contributed more significantly than AOA to the ammonia oxidation process in calcareous purple soil.