MINERALIZATION OF CARBON AND NITROGEN IN ACID FOREST SOIL TREATED WITH FAST AND SLOW-RELEASE NUTRIENTS

The effects of slow (apatite, biotite) and fast-release nutrients (P, K, Mg) on C and N mineralization in acid forest soil were studied. These nutrients were applied alone or together with urea or urea and limestone. The production of CO2 in the soil samples taken one and three growing seasons after the application was lower in the soils treated with the fast-release nutrients than in the untreated soils. Similar reduction of microbial activity was not seen after the apatite and apatite+biotite treatments. In the first growing season, urea and urea+limestone enhanced CO2 production, but after three growing seasons, the opposite was true. Apatite and apatite+biotite added together with urea did not compensate for the decreasing effect of urea on the CO2 production. The addition of fast-release salts increased somewhat the concentration of NH4+ in the soil and more NH4+ accumulated during laboratory incubation in the soil samples taken one growing season after the application. The urea addition immediately increased the concentrations of NH4+ and of NO3- in the soil, but, three growing seasons after application, urea had only a slight increasing effect on mineral N content of the soil. Slow-release nutrients seem to have a more favourable effect than fast-release salts on nutrient turnover in acid forest soil.