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nitrogen mineralization ?
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tkoppel
Posted 8/2/2020 07:27 (#8410136 - in reply to #8409949)
Subject: RE: nitrogen mineralization ?


Sanilac Co. Michigan
Deaner - 8/1/2020 23:50

blowsand - 8/1/2020 10:31

IMO both of the above are correct.

Mineralization is basically the same function as residue breakdown, and the subsequent release of the nutrients contained in that residue.

Look at an early harvested cornfields residue in the spring vs. a late harvested. Residue won’t change much over the winter, it takes warm temperatures to get the microbial and insect population working on the residue in a meaningful amount.

And moisture, in a drought year, it seems that lawn clippings accumulate, whereas in a wet year, even though much more are generated, they dissapear. Same reasoning as above, too dry, and the microbe and insect population suffers, and the residue is much slower to break down.

Soil organic matter is basically the same thing as crop residue, it just needs to be converted into a plant available form by microbes and insects. The better conditions for them, the more N mineralized. Clear as mud?


I thought soil organic matter is crop residue (and other organic residue) that is broken down to the point that it can not be broken down any more, can not be converted into plant “food”.


Deaner, SOM, residue and humus get kind of confusing because though related to one another, they're not quite the same thing. Residue kind of fuels the formation and retention of SOM, but SOM can be increased or decreased over time based on any number of environmental conditions. So, though relatively stable from year to year it's not a permanent factor.

Humus is the stable portion of SOM. That's the stuff that basically can't be broken down any further. It can be built or formed, but it's an exceedingly long process. Its probably safe to say it's more efficient to import humic material into a soil then it is to wait on forming it.

I guess I think of humus as the stable matrix on which SOM is developed. That in turn is "made" by all the complex life forms living in the soil, fed by, among other things, the residue of the stuff growing there.
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