Carbon and nitrogen mineralization in soil of leguminous trees in a degraded pasture in northern Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

Use of legume trees can improve soil quality in degraded pastures. The aim of this study was to characterize C and N mineralization kinetics and estimate the potentially mineralizable C and N in soil under Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Benth. and Acacia auriculiformis A. Cunn. ex Benth. secondary forest and pasture in red-yellow latosols in southeast Brazil. We conducted a laboratory aerobic incubation experiment using a completely randomized design of four replicates and four types of plant cover using a modified version of the Stanford and Smith technique (1972) to study C and N mineralization potential. Potentially mineralizable N (N_o) ranged from 135 to 170 mg kg⁻¹. The predominant form of mineral N for all types of plant cover was N-NO₃ ⁻. M. caesalpiniifolia was the only species that had a positive influence on N mineralization. Neither of the legumes influenced C mineralization in pasture or secondary forest. The model of N mineralization corresponded to a sigmoidal curve while C mineralization corresponded to an exponential curve, revealing that the N and C mineralization processes were distinct. N mineralized by M. caesalpiniifolia (216 kg of N ha⁻¹) was adequate to meet the N requirement for a livestock-forest system.

Keywords

Carbon dioxide / Forest soil / Mineralized N / Organic matter / Soil microorganisms

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