Estimating N rhizodeposition of grain legumes using a 15N in situ stem labelling method

Grain legumes in crop rotations cause significant increases in yield for succeeding non-legumes, which cannot be explained simply by the small effect that legumes have on the soil nitrogen balance, as found in the analysis of N in crop residues. Besides known positive non-N-effects, other effects, mainly rhizodeposition and its contribution to the N balance and nitrogen dynamics after harvesting the grain, are poorly understood. In this study, N rhizodeposition, defined as root-derived N in the soil after removal of visible roots, was measured in faba bean (Vicia faba L.), pea (Pisum sativum L.) and white lupin (Lupinus albus L.). In a pot experiment the legumes were pulse labelled in situ with 15N urea using a cotton wick method. About 84% of the applied 15N was recovered for the three legume species at maturity. The 15N was comparatively uniformly distributed among plant parts. The N rhizodeposition constituted 13% of total plant N for faba bean and pea and 16% for white lupin at maturity, about 80% of below ground plant N, respectively. Some 7% (lupin)–31% (pea) of the total N rhizodeposits were recovered as micro-roots by wet sieving (200 μm) the soil after all visible roots had been removed. Only 14–18% of the rhizodeposition N was found in the microbial biomass and a very small amount of 3–7% was found in the mineral N fraction. In pea, 48% and in lupin 72% of N rhizodeposits could not be recovered in the mentioned pools and a major part of the unrecovered N was probably immobilised in microbial residues. The results of this study clearly indicate that N rhizodeposition from grain legumes represent a significant pool for N balance and N dynamics in crop rotations.