Seasonal fluctuation in microbial biomass and activity along a natural nitrogen gradient in a drained peatland

The effects of peat total N on the dissolved N and C concentrations and microbial biomass and activity and their range of seasonal fluctuation were studied in a drained peatland forest in Finland. Seasonal fluctuations in the concentrations of extractable dissolved organic (DON) and inorganic nitrogen (DIN) compounds and extractable dissolved organic carbon (DOC), microbial C and N, ergosterol, net and gross N mineralisation rates were investigated during two growing seasons along a natural peat N gradient in a drained peatland. Significant seasonal fluctuations in NH4+ and DOC concentrations, microbial C and N, but not in ergosterol or microbial C-to-N ratios in the peat, were observed during the 1999 and 2000 growing seasons. The peat total N concentration affected extractable DON and DOC, but not DIN concentrations in the peat. A negative correlation was found between total N concentration in peat and microbial N and C, and a positive correlation between total N and ergosterol, in peat with N concentrations of up to 2%. Gross mineralisation rates did not show any correlation, whereas net mineralisation rates showed a significant positive correlation with the total N concentration of the peat in both 1999 and 2000. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.