Comparison of carbon and nitrogen mineralization between fumigation and heating treatments

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Abstract
We carried out an experiment to compare the amounts of carbon and nitrogen mineralized by chloroform fumigation and heating (50, 100, 150, and 200°C) in order to clarify the origin of the carbon and nitrogen mineralized by the drying treatment, for the development of a soil fertility index. The amount of carbon mineralized from the fumigated soil was approximately equal to that from the soil heated at 50°C. The amount of nitrogen mineralized from the fumigated soil was equal to that from the soil heated at 50 and 100°C. The decrease in the number of bacteria in the fumigated soil was approximately equal to that in the soil heated at 50°C. On the other hand, the decrease in the number of actinomycetes and fungi in the fumigated soil was equal to that in the soil heated at 100°C. Based on these results, we suggest that the carbon and nitrogen mineralized in the soil heated at 50 and 100°C were mainly derived from the biomass fraction and at above 100°C, mainly from the non-biomass fraction.