Sorption of dissolved organic nitrogen by acid subsoil horizons and individual mineral phases

Dissolved organic matter is important in translocation and export of nutrients from forest ecosystems. Its mobility in soil is restricted by sorption to mineral surfaces which depends on its chemical properties. Carboxyl and hydroxyl groups form strong bondings to mineral surfaces, whereas the role of N-containing functional groups in the sorption process is less well understood. We examined in laboratory experiments the binding of dissolved organic matter from the forest floor to amorphous AI(OH)(3), goethite, kaolinite, and illite and to subsoils in order to compare the sorption and desorption of dissolved organic C with that of dissolved organic N. The mineral samples were equilibrated with acidic solutions of organic matter at pH4. In the equilibrium solutions organic C and N and their contribution to two operationally defined fractions, namely the so-called hydrophilic and hydrophobic fractions, were determined. We measured neutral and acidic amino sugars to discover the nature of the binding of organic N. Within the hydrophilic and hydrophobic fractions, the sorption and desorption of organic C and N did not differ, indicating that there was no preferential binding of N-containing compounds. The hydrophilic fraction contained more N and sorbed less than the hydrophobic fraction, and so the overall retention of organic N by the mineral phases and subsoils was smaller than that of organic C. Among the amino sugar compounds, muramic acid was preferentially removed from the solution, whereas the neutral amino sugars were sorbed similar to organic C. The results suggest that the sorption of N-containing compounds is favoured by acidic groups and not by amino groups.