FIELD-EVALUATION OF SEVERAL CHEMICAL INDEXES OF SOIL-NITROGEN AVAILABILITY

The ability of several chemical soil N availability indexes to predict the N supplying capability (NSC) of soils to maize in the field was evaluated in 49 field experiments over 3 years in Pennsylvania. Two recently proposed indexes based on the amount of NH4+ released by treating soil with 2 M KCl at 100°C for 4 hr or with a pH 11.2 phosphate-borate buffer for 8 min were not good predictors of NSC (r=0.484 and 0.254, respectively). The absorbance of a 0.01 M NaHCO3 extract at 260 nm was also poorly correlated with field-measured NSC (r=0.412). The pre-sidedress soil NO3- test (PSNT), the soil NO3- concertration in the surface 20 cm of soil at planting, and the UV absorbance at 200 nm of a 0.01 M NaHCO3 extract of at planting soils were all moderately well correlated with NSC (r=0.672, 0.750, and 0.737, respectively). The latter two indexes are very simple, rapid, and inexpensive to perform and offer the possibility of improving the prediction of NSC in heavily manured fields. © 1990 Kluwer Academic Publishers.