Effect of the storage conditions of soil samples on carbon and nitrogen extractability

Abstract

Concentrations of carbon and nitrogen extractable by 0.05 M K₂SO₄ (C_ext and N_ext, respectively) in 14 soils of different ecosystems vary from 16 to 205 and from 4 to 53 mg/kg, respectively. The portion of C_ext in soil organic matter is 0.06 to 0.38% of total carbon, and the portion of N_ext is 0.12–1.05% of total nitrogen. The storage of samples and their preparation to analysis differently affect the extractability of elements. The concentration of C_ext is less variable than the concentration of N_ext. An increase in C extractability (by 1.4–6.7 times) is a common feature of all soils under drying; at the following incubation of dried soils, the extractability of C decreases by 28–56%. The extractability of N increases not only under drying (by 1.5–7.1 times) and the following incubation of samples (by 25–60% to 2–3 times), but also under freezing of most soils and at the incubation of fresh and defrozen samples. A close direct correlation is observed between the initial water content of soil and the relative increase in C extractability under drying and N extractability under freezing and drying.