Uptake and Above- and Below-Ground Allocation of Soil Mineral-N and Fertilizer- 15 N in a Perennial Grass Ley (Festuca pratensis)

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Abstract
(1) Two experiments were done. In Experiment 1, a perennial Festuca pratensis Huds. ley was grown during 3 years in a field experiment with 14 .times. 40 m plots. Nitrogen uptake, defined as the flow of nitrogen into the crop during one growng season, was estimated from frequent samples of above- and below-ground plant parts during the second and third year. Total nitrogen content was determined in living and dead plant parts. (2) If calculated from significant increases of nitrogen in the whole crop, nitrogen uptake in 1982 was 33 g m-2, of which 23 g m-2 was removed at harvest. If nitrogen in roots dying during the growing season was included, total annual nitrogen uptake was 38 g m-2. (3) Experiment 2 examined uptake of fertilizer-N and soil mineral-N using 15N-labelled fertilizer in small enclosed plots. In this, 92% of the applied fertilizer-N (20 g N m-2) was recovered in the crop during 1982. The rest of the fertilizer-N had passed through the crop and was recovered in the below-ground dead organic material. This indicates that all applied fertilizer-N was well as an additional 18 g m-2 from the soil mineral-N pool was taken up.

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