Nitrification in the rhizosphere of a flooding-resistant and a flooding-non-resistant Rumex species under drained and waterlogged conditions

W. M.H.G. Engelaar*, P. L.E. Bodelier, H. J. Laanbroek, C. W.P.M. Blom

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journal/periodicalArticleScientificpeer-review

    18 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The effects of the flooding-resistant plant species Rumex palustris and the non-flooding-resistant plant species Rumex acetosa on nitrification were compared. The plants were grown under drained and waterlogged conditions on a mixture of calcareous riversand and sieved grassland soil with a high potential nitrifying activity. In the shoots of R. acetosa, but not in those of R. palustris, the ratio between the amounts of accumulated carboxylates and organic nitrogen, ((CA-A)/Norg.), appeared to be a useful indicator of ammonium or nitrate consumption by tghe plant. In both plant species, the inorganic nitrogen source had no observed effect on the (C-A)/Norg. ratio in the roots. The growth of R. acetosa, but not that of R. palustris was inhibited by waterlogging of the soil. Both the activity and the growth of the ammonium-oxidizing bacteria were repressed under drained and waterlogged conditions in soils with R. palustris, a condition that was attributed to a competitive ammonium uptake by its relatively fast growing roots. In the presence of R. acetosa, the activity and growth of the ammonium-oxidizing bacteria were inhibited under waterlogged, but not under drained, conditions. he growth and activity of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria in the absence of actively ammonium-oxidizing, nitrite-producing bacteria was likely due to organotrophic growth.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)33-42
    Number of pages10
    JournalFEMS Microbiology Letters
    Volume86
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Sept 1991

    Keywords

    • Nitrification
    • Radial oxygen loss
    • Root biomass
    • Rumex
    • Waterlogging

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