SUMMARYThe C and N in the biomass of soils from eight grassland field experiments where lime had been applied was determined by the chloroform fumigation method. Lime application increased C and N in the biomass by approximately 30% overall, although there was no effect at two sites. In the unlimed plots basal CO2 production, biomass C, and flush of mineral N production (FN) increased with soil pH. Biomass C and FN were correlated with total N content but not with organic C.Differences in the apparent C/N ratio of the biomass were found in unlimed soils of pH ≤ 4·5 and in those of pH > 4·5, the ratios being 4·2 and 5·8 respectively. For limed soils the ratio was 5·2. It is probable that the chloroform fumigation method is not suited to soils of very low pH, and that the C/N ratio obtained in soils of pH < 4·5 is artificially low.

Sewage sludges containing high concentrations of zinc, copper and nickel were added separately to samples of two soils, a silty clay loam and a sandy loam, on which pH levels between 4.5 and 7.5 had been established; there were also treatments with sludge of low metal content or no-sludge. Soil-sludge mixtures were either continuously cropped with ryegrass or kept uncropped in pots in the glasshouse for 6 months. Zinc and nickel concentrations in 0.1 M calcium chloride extracts of soils from the cropped pots and in solutions displaced from the fallow pots decreased with increasing pH over the range tested, but copper concentrations remained steady above pH 5.5; individual metal concentrations in ryegrass tops followed the same pattern with pH as those in extracted solutions. Squared correlation coefficients (R') between shoot metal concentrations and concentrations of metals in EDTA, DPTA or calcium chloride extracts or displaced solutions, when taken over all soil, pH and sludge treatments, were >0.60 (P

No abstract

SummarySoils of various agronomic histories were fumigated with chloroform, and the resultant increased production of CO2 and mineral-N measured and expressed as biomass C and the flush of mineral-N production (FN), respectively. Biomass C and FN contents of grassland soils were greater than those of arable soils, and significant correlations with macro organic-matter content were found. Biomass C contents varied from 7 to mg C/100 g soil in arable soil and from 31 to 222 mg C/100 g soil in grassland or woodland. The proportion of soil organic C that was contained within the biomass ranged from 0·3 to 4·0%, whilst FN comprised from 1·0 to 11·7% of total soil N. FNcontents ranged from 1·1 to 13·2mg N/1OOg soil for arable soils, and from 2·5 to 31·7 mg N/100 g soil for grassland and woodland. Application of organic manures increased biomass C and FN contents in grassland soil.

Soils from three Danish experiments testing identical quantities of sewage sludge were sampled 5 years after the application of sludge ceased. Chemical studies on the soils involving single and sequential extractions, displaced solution measurements and plant uptake experiments in a glasshouse showed that sludge-added Zn, Ni, Cd and Cu persisted in extractable and bioavailable forms in the topsoils and that soil pH and texture influenced their chemistry and availability. The EDTA-extractabilities of native and of sludge-added Cd were similar, but native Zn, Ni and Cu were less extractable than sludge-added metals. 0.1 M-calcium chloride was the best extractant for predicting plant uptake. In some cases a chelating extractant combined with pH measurements is suitable if a single reagent is to be used for all four metals.