Nitrogen-bonded aromatics in soil organic matter and their implications for a yield decline in intensive rice cropping

Previous research has shown that long-term intensive cropping of irrigated lowland rice has led to significant grain-yield declines in field trials. The yield decline was attributed to decreased availability of soil nitrogen, which is held mostly in the soil organic matter. By advanced solid-state NMR spectroscopy, we have detected significant amounts of amide nitrogen directly bonded to aromatic rings in a humic acid fraction extracted from a continually submerged, triple-cropped rice soil. Because nitrogen bonded to aromatics is not readily plant-available, this observation can explain the yield decline. Quantitative C-13 NMR combined with advanced spectral editing showed that this humic acid is rich in lignin derivatives (>45% of all carbon), whereas the corresponding humic acid fraction extracted from an aerobic, single-cropped rice soil contains less lignin and less nitrogen bonded to aromatics.