Soil warming and liming impacts on the recovery of 15N in an acidic soil under soybean cropping

Liming has important implications for N dynamics in acidic soils planted with legumes that are not fully understood. We used aN tracer (KNO) to examine N dynamics in a Chromic Luvisol planted with soybean with and without lime in environmentally-controlled chambers set at 20°C and 30°C (full factorial design). Liming increased total N andN recovery in soybean, but had no effect on microbial recovery. Elevated temperature, increased total plant N, decreasedN recovery in soybean and microbes, and increased loss of N through leaching. Our results show enhanced uptake of soil mineral N by soybean with liming, thereby reducing N loss from soil, while an increase in temperature from 20°C to 30°C may enhance N loss in these systems.