Immobilization immobilized plant growth

Mineralization often has the initial effect (e.g., immediately after leaffall) of immobilizing N (36). In ecosystems where plant growth is limited by the availability of N, mineralization is also limited by N in the sense that addition of N to the leaflitter speeds decay and increases the rate at which N is immobilized by decomposers (37, 38). This initial immobilization period is marked by a net increase in the N content of leaflitter. Nitrogen limitation of decomposition follows in part from the low N content typical of litter, which arises from the translocation of N out of leaves during senescence. The immobilization phase of mineralization is followed by a period of slow release of inorganic N from the soil microbial pool (36). 

Boisson, J., Ruttens, A., Mench, M., and Vangronsveld, J. (1999). Evaluation of hydroxyapatite as a metal immobilizing soil additive for the remediation of polluted soils, 1 Influence of hydroxyapatite on metal exchangeability in soil, plant growth and plant metal accumulation. Environ. Pollut. 104, 225-233. 

In addition to pH effects on the availability of individual ions, various nutrients often interact with respect to their effects on plant growth. Some such interactions may arise from similarities in uptake mechanisms for different nutrients, whereas others may arise from precipitation or immobilization of ions near the plant root or... 

Gontier E, Sangwan BS, Barbotin JN (1994) Effects of calcium, alginate, and calcium-alginate immobilization on growth and tropane alkaloid levels of a stable suspension cell line of Datura innoxia Mill. Plant Cell Rep 13(9) 533-536... 

Winter A (1967) The promotion of the immobilization of auxin in Avena coleoptiles by triiodobenzoic acid. Physiol Plant 20 330-336 Winter A (1968) 2,3,5-Triiodobenzoic acid and the transport of 3-indoleacetic acid. In Wightman F, Setterfield G (eds) Biochemistry and physiology of plant growth substances. Runge, Ottawa, pp 1063-1076... 

The biomass has a multiple role in soil, affecting the decomposition and turnover of organic matter, nutrient immobilization and cycling, root physiology and soil structure. Future studies will no doubt extend the range of parameters being currently measured, and enable quantitative assessments to be made of the influence of the biomass on soil fertility and plant growth. 

Soils deficient in sulfur do not support plant growth well, largely because sulfur is a component of some essential amino acids and of thiamin and biotin. Sulfate ion is generally present in the soil as immobilized insoluble sulfate minerals, or as soluble salts that are readily leached from the soil and lost as soil water runoff. Unlike the case of nutrient cations such as K, little sulfate is adsorbed to the soil (that is, bound by ion exchange binding) where it is resistant to leaching while still available for assimilation by plant roots. 

---