Relationships between soil thermal units, nitrogen mineralization and dry matter production in pastures

Nitrogen (N) is of environmental concern if it leaches or is released as nitrous oxide (N2O). In order to utilize N efficiently in grazed pasture systems, the fluxes of N from various sources need to be quantified. One flux is N mineralization from organic sources. Previous work has examined incubation and chemical extraction of soils as methods to determine N mineralization potential. This paper re-examines new and previously published data on net mineralization, with the aim of examining the relationships between soil thermal units, net N mineralization (measured using acetylene incubations) and dry matter production in pastures. Net N mineralization is expressed as N turnover (net N mineralization as a % of total soil N). Relationships are developed between soil thermal units, dry matter production, and N turnover. These relationships have potential in advising farmers on potential N mineralization from soil organic matter. A second use of such relationships is the modelling of N transformations in pasture systems. Further work should explore the effect of soil moisture on such relationships and examine the relationship between soil thermal units and uptake of N by pasture.