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Fate of Legume and Fertilizer Nitrogen-15 in a Long-Term Cropping Systems Experiment

Univ. of Georgia, P.O. Box 1209, Tifton, GA 31793

Oran B. Hesterman and Eldor A. Paul

Dep. of Crop and Soil Sciences, Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI 48824

Steven E. Peters and Rhonda R. Janke

Rodale Institute Research Center, Kutztown, PA 19530

^* Corresponding author.

Relying more on biological N₂ fixation has been suggested as a way to meet one of the major challenges of agricultural sustainability. A ¹⁵N study was conducted to compare the fate of applied legume and fertilizer N in a long-term cropping systems experiment. Nitrogen-15-1abeled red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) and (NH₄)₂SO₄ ere applied microplots within the low-input and conventional cropping systems of the Farming Systems Trial at the Rodale Institute Research Center in Pennsylvania. The ¹⁵SN was applied to soil and traced into corn (Zea mays L.) in 1987 and 1988. Residual ¹⁵SN was also traced into second-year spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). Legume and fertilizer ¹⁵SN remaining in soil was measured and loss of N was calculated by difference. More fertilizer than legume N was recovered by crops (40 vs. 17% of input), more legume than fertilizer N was retained in soil (47 vs. 17% of input), and similar amounts of N from both sources were lost from the cropping systems (39% of input) over the 2-yr period. More fertilizer than legume N was lost during the year of application (38 vs. 18% of input), but more legume than fertilizer N was lost the year after application (17 vs. 4% of input). Residual fertilizer and legume ¹⁵SN was distributed similarly among soil fractions. Soil microbial biomass was larger in the legume-based system. A larger, but not necessarily more active, soil microbial biomass was probably responsible for the greater soil N supplying capacity in the legume-based compared with fertilizer-based system.

Received for publication July 6, 1993.

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