The Role of Monoterpenes in Soil Nitrogen Cycling Processes in Ponderosa Pine: Results from Laboratory Bioassays and Field Studies

The effects of select monoterpenes on nitrogen (N) mineralization and nitrification potentials were determined in four separate laboratory bioassays. The effect of increasing monoterpene addition was an initial reduction in NO3 -N production (nitrification inhibition), followed by a reduction in the sum of N N N-N and N -N (inhibition of net N mineralization and net immobilization at high monoterpene additions. Monoterpenes could produce this pattern by inhibiting nitrification, reducing net N mineralization, enhancing immobilization of NO3 -N relative to NH4 -N, and/or stimulating overall net immobilization of N by carbon-rich material. Initial monoterpene concentrations in the assay soils were about 5% of the added amount and were below detection after incubation in most samples. Potential N mineralization-immobilization, nitrification, and soil monoterpene concentrations were determined by soil horizon for four collections from a ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) stand in New Mexico. Concentrations of monoterpenes declined exponentially with soil depth and varied greatly within a horizon. Monoterpene content of the forest floor was not correlated with forest floor biomass. Net N mineralization was inversely correlated with total monoterpene content of all sampled horizons. Nitrification was greatest in the mineral soil, intermediate in the F-H horizon, and never occurred in the L horizon. Nitrification in the mineral soil was inversely correlated with the amount of monoterpenes in the L horizon that contain terminal unsaturated carbon-carbon bonds (r2 = 0.37, P < 0.01). This pattern in the field corresponded to the pattern shown in the laboratory assays with increasing monoterpene additions.