Microbial Degradation of Organic Nitrogen

FIGURE 8.19 Mineralization of organic nitrogen as influenced by soil redox potential. (Redrawn from McLatchy and Reddy, 1998.) 

Under field conditions, the most common method used is the litter bag method. Litter bags with mesh sizes ranging from less than 1 mm to more than 10 mm have been used. Although there are several limitations to this method, investigators have consistently used this method because of its 

FIGURE 8.20 Relationship between organic mineralization rate and ambient ammonia levels in soils (White and Reddy, 2001). 

FIGURE 8.21 Cumulative organic nitrogen mineralization (59 weeks) in select temperate wetlands. (From Bridgham et al., 1998.) 

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