Nitrogen behavior in tropical wetland rice soils - 1. Nitrogen-supplying capacities

Laboratory and greenhouse pot experiments show that tropical wetland rice soils are very diverse in the inherent fertility. The mineralization of native soil nitrogen differed among the soils studied. Air-drying and oven-drying of soils resulted in a large increase in nitrogen mineralized. The main source of mineralized N was the amino acid and amino sugar fractions.