A major role for nitrification in the weathering of minerals of brown acid forest soils

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Abstract
Experiments employing lysimeters and a comparison of soil leachates at >‐0.03 MPa and soil solutions extracted at ‐2.5 MPa showed the importance of nitrification in the weathering of minerals of brown acid forest soils (dys‐trochrept) which are formed over large areas in temperate climates. Mineralization of litter from plants characteristic of such soils (in particular Festuca silvatica and Abies pectinata) produces large amounts of nitric acid. This bacterial nitrification is responsible for the solubilization of Ca2+, Mg2+, and K+ and must be involved in the slow weathering of minerals by acidolysis and in the biogeochemical cycling of Ca2+, Mg2+, and K+ in these soils. Soil solutions extracted at ‐2.5 MPa reflect much more the microbial activity than the leachates from soil and provide interesting information.