Influence of pedological and climatic factors on nitrogen mineralization in soils treated with pig slurry compost

The influence of various climatic and pedological factors, including temperature, moisture, clay content and nitrifying agents, on nitrogen mineralization in three types of soil fertilized with pig slurry compost was studied. The results suggested that the time of incubation is the most influential factor on changes in the different nitrogen fractions. In addition the lower the clay content of the soil the lower the final organic N content after incubation; on the other hand, the lower the temperature, greater the extent of mineralization (0.49-2.98% of total N at 30 degrees C and 2.23-4.70% at 15 degrees C). None of the climatic and pedological variables studied was found to have a significant effect on nitrogen losses, which never exceeded 46% of the initial amount of nitrogen. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.