RESIDUE DECOMPOSITION EFFECTS ON NITROGEN AVAILABILITY TO CORN FOLLOWING CORN OR SOYBEAN

Rates of N fertilization required to attain maximum yields of corn (Ze a mays L,) usually are less for corn grown after soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] than for corn grown after corn, but the reason for the dif ference in N fertilizer requirement has not been clearly established, We studied immobilization and mineralization induced by various manage ment histories and residue treatments to learn about the causes of dif ferences in N fertilizer requirements. Soil samples were collected at five sites in the fall of 1990 from plots that had been planted to soy bean and plots that had been planted to corn receiving various N rates , The soil samples were incubated for 42 wk after treatment with N-15- labeled NO3- and with crop residues, All treatments showed a period of net immobilization followed by a period of net mineralization. Net am ounts of N immobilization induced by soybean residue were approximatel y equal to those induced by corn residue from plots with the higher ra tes of fertilization, However, the soybean-induced immobilization was much more rapid, Rates of mineralization of nonlabeled N were not grea ter from soils having soybean residue than from soils having corn resi due, Because soybean produces less residue under field conditions, the results suggest that differences in N fertilizer requirement are bett er explained by differences in amounts of N immobilized during residue decomposition than by mineralization of biologically fixed N associat ed with the soybean.