Dynamics of inorganic forms of nitrogen in soil of the nature reserve alúvium žitavy

Abstract

There was studied dynamics of inorganic soil nitrogen in the Alluvium Žitavy Nature Reserve in the years 2008 and 2009. We observed variability in the individual inorganic nitrogen forms in soil samples differing in the sampling depth, soil moisture content, sampling site and date of the sampling. After comparing the contents of Nin over the research period, we found that higher values were in the first year (2008). Ammonium nitrogen values ranged from 3.80-16.87 mg kg-1 and its average over the research period was 7.24 mg kg-1. The contents of this N form in 2008 were higher than in 2009. Nitrate nitrogen displayed the opposite trend. The values of nitrate nitrogen were within 0.44 to 9.28 mg kg-1 with an average of 2.03 mg kg-1. The contents of this N form were higher in 2009. The content of ammonium nitrogen was found affected significantly by the year and date of sampling. The content of nitrate nitrogen was highly significantly influenced by the soil depth, year and sampling site. The coefficients of variation were high, consequently, there have not been identified correlations between the soil moisture content and amounts of the studied forms of inorganic nitrogen. The low values of nitrate nitrogen do not indicate a risk of pollution either of the groundwater or surface water.