Significance of microbial biomass for carbon and nitrogen mineralization in soil

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Abstract
C and N mineralization was quantified in an incubation experiment with two samples containing different amounts of microbial biomass. The samples from two layers (0–20, 20–30 cm) of an arable luvisol from loess were fertilized with nitrate, mixed with14C‐labelled straw and incubated for 52 days at different O2levels. Decreasing O2concentrations (21, 2, 1 and 0% O2) in soil conducted a decrease in C and N mineralization. More C and N were mineralized in samples with a higher initial microbial biomass. The differences in microbial biomass were still present at the end of the experiment, but more proliferation was detected in samples with the lower initial microbial biomass, leading to equal ratios between microbial biomass‐C and soil organic C in both soils.