TITLE	Nitrogen nutritional status and fate of applied N in mangrove soils
AUTHOR	Chih-Yu Chiu Institute of Botany, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan 11529, Republic of China Shui-Cheng Lee Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, Atomic Energy Council, P. O. Box 3 Lungtan, Taiwan, Republic of China Hau Tsueng Juang Institute of Botany, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan 11529, Republic of China Ming-Tan Hur Institute of Botany, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan 11529, Republic of China Yuan-Hsun Hwang Institute of Botany, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan 11529, Republic of China
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ABSTRACT	Fluctuation of inorganic N content in mangrove soils of the Tamshui estuary, northwestern Taiwan, showed that ammonium concentrations ranged from 0.15 to 17.10 mg N kg-1 soil, while nitrate ranged from trace amounts to 2.54 mg N kg-1 soil. Geographic and edaphic factors caused the difference of inorganic N between the sites. These levels were much higher than values reported elsewhere. Pot experiments showed the added 15N labeled ammonium (6 mg N per pot) disappeared rapidly. The 15N residues remaining in the soil were mostly in the organic form. N uptake by Kandelia candel was 13.1% after one month and 19.6% after three months. Recoveries of applied N after three months were 40.3% in planted treatment and 32.6% in unplanted treatment. Most of the N loss, occurring in the first month, can be attributed to denitrification. The large N loss suggests a high potential for mangrove soils to remove high input of N from the river through denitrification.
KEYWORD	Denitrification; Kandelia candel; Mangrove; 15N;
ARTICLE INFO	Botanical Bulletin of Academia Sinica, Volume 37 Number 3 July 1996, page 191-196, 6 pages
PUBLISHER	Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China