Modelling growth responses of soil nitrifiers to additions of ammonium sulphate and ammonium chloride

Summary Following the addition of 0–75 mole N g^–1 as ammonium chloride or ammonium sulphate to a sandy loam soil the nitrate formed was measured daily for a period of 15–17 days. The nitrate produced as a function of time was described using the Monod equation for microbial growth. An optimisation technique is described for obtaining, from the nitrification time course data, the maximum specific growth rate, the affinity constantant and an index limited by the concentration of ammonium in soil solution. Additions of more than 7.3 moles N g^–1 soil as ammonium chloride were found to inhibit nitrification. The inhibition was interpreted as being caused by osmotic pressure or by chloride ion. A similar effect was not found with ammonium sulphate, because the salt concentration in the soil solution was restricted by the precipitation of calcium sulphate. The model developed was capable of accounting for nitrate production in the soil under non-steady state conditions of substrate concentrations and nitrifier biomass.