Natural Nitrogen-15 Abundance of Ammonium Nitrogen and Fixed Ammonium in Soils

The present article deals with the natural nitrogen-15 abundance of ammonium nitrogen and fixed ammonium in different soils. Variations in the natural 15N abundance of ammonium nitrogen mineralized in soils under anaerobic incubation condition were related to soil pH. The δ 15N of mineralizable N in acid soils was lower but that in neutral and calcareous soils was higher compared with the δ 15N of total N in the soils. A variation tendency was also found in the δ 15N of amino-acid N in the hydrolysates of soils. The natural 15N abundance of fixed ammonium was higher than that of total N in most surface soils and other soil horizons, indicating that the increase of δ 15N in the soil horizons beneath subsurface horizon of some forest soils and acid paddy soils was related to the higher δ 15N value of fixed ammonium in the soil.