Item: Changes in soil nitrogen availability as influenced by leaf litter decomposition in a mango orchard of the College of Agriculture, CLSU [manuscript]
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Date
2020
Authors
Einar M. De Mesa
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Abstract
The study aimed to quantify the soil nitrogen in its available form in mango orchard as influenced by leaf litter decomposition. It utilized four (4) treatments the difference between cultivated soil, and uncultivated soil and with leaf litter, without leaf litter. After twelve (12) weeks of study, the result shows that treatment without leaf litter include , T1 – Control 1 (without leaf litter & without tillage) and T2-Control II (without leaf litter and with tillage) had the lowest amount of available nitrogen. While treatment with leaf litter had the highest amount of available nitrogen which are T3-with leaf litter and without tillage and T4- with leaf litter & with tillage. The results shows that the treatments without leaf litter had decreased the amount of available N by -75.78%, - 72.18% ammonium – N and -42.17%, -26.75% nitrate-N in treatments 1 and 2 respectively compared to treatments with leaf litter that has retained and increased the amount of available N by 1.98%, 26.86% ammonium-N and 0%, 107.70% nitrate N in treatments 3 and 4 respectively. Therefore, keeping the leaf litter in the area may increase or retain the available nitrogen in the soil. Since the leaf litter is the immediate source of both ammonium N and nitrate-N, removing leaf litter is also the same as removing the available nitrogen it contains and that may be transferred to the soil through decomposition.