›› 2017, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (11): 1890-1896.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1004-1524.2017.11.16

• Environmental Science • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effects of vermicompost on nitrogen mineralization and nitrification of latosol in cane field in Hainan

SHAN Ying1, 2, ZHAO Fengliang1, 2, *, ZOU Ganghua1, 2, LI Wei1, 2, HE Zhenli3, ABDELAZIZ Adel M R A1, 2, 4   

  1. 1. Institute of Environment and Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou 571101, China;
    2. Danzhou Scientific Observing and Experimental Station of Agro-Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, Danzhou 571737, China;
    3. Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Indian River Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Fort Pierce, FL 34945, USA;
    4. Central Lab of Organic Agriculture, Agricultural Research Center, Giza 12619, Egypt
  • Received:2017-05-05 Online:2017-11-20 Published:2017-12-05

Abstract: To explore the effect of vermicompost on N mineralization and nitrification of latosol, soil was collected from a cane field in Hainan to conduct a microcosm experiment. Treatments included CK (no vermicompost was applied) and 4 ratios of vermicompost and soil mass as 1∶11, 1∶5, 1∶3 and 1∶2 were set to determine the dynamic changes of pH, total nitrogen (TN), NH4+-N, NO3--N and mineral N contents in soil. The results showed that soil pH increased by 0.11-0.98 units with vermicompost as compared to CK. NO3--N and mineral N contents in the soil with vermicompost application were 1.67-6.09 times and 1.21-2.83 times of those in the control after 52 d incubation. In contrast, NH4+-N contents in the soil were lower than that in the control. Soil net N mineralization rate and nitrification rate were 1.47-5.13 times and 2.23-8.16 times of those in the control, respectively. Overall, the increase of vermicompost application improved soil N mineralization and nitrification.

Key words: vermicompost, latosol, nitrogen, mineralization, nitrification

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