Microbial biomass in red soils and its significance in plant availability of nitrogen

A series of laboratory and pot experiments carried out to examine the role of soil microbial biomass in red soils' nitrogen availability and productivity showed that soil available N (NA), dry matter yield (DMY) of ryegrass, and plant uptake of nitrogen were each closely correlated with microbial biomass-C (Cmic) or -N (Nmic), suggesting that soil microbial biomass is a very important nitrogen pool available to plants in red soils. After correction for the substrate effect, the computed turnover of the Nmic in three tested soils ranged from 63 to 250 days. Soils with low Nmic or light texture generally had higher Nmic turnover rate than those with high Nmic or heavy texture. These results showed that soils with low Nmic, microbial biomass could also play an important role in the availability of nitrogen to plants due to these soils' high turnover rate.