Table 3.
Percentage 15N retention of applied 15N-urea into pools. Brackets indicate the pools which were either produced separately (e.g., labelled 15N clover and exudates in the decomposition and exudate treatments, respectively) or pools which were removed from the experiment as a treatment (e.g., defoliation). The values were excluded from analysis due to different experimental design, but are included within the table for completeness. Pools with a * were incorporated into the TraC of the treatment. Values are mean ± SE (n = 4). Lower case letters indicate a significant difference between the treatments determined using one-way ANOVA and multiple pairwise comparisons (p < 0.05). LabC = labelling compartment, TraC = transfer compartment
| Treatment | Clover | Soil TraC | Grass | Total | Unknown | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shoots | Roots TraC | Roots TraC | Shoots | ||||
| 15N-urea | 37 ± 2.5 | 1.8 ± 0.4 ab | 0.69 ± 0.11 a | 0.34 ± 0.09 a |
0.14 ± 0.01 a |
40 ± 3.1 ab | 60 ± 3.1 |
| Decomposition | (40 ± 0.2*) | (0.33 ± 0.07) |
6.8 ± 0.8 b |
1.9 ± 0.5 b |
4.0 ± 0.6 b |
53 ± 2.1 b | 47 ± 2.1 |
| Exudation | (29 ± 5.0*) | (1.2 ± 0.3) | 0.40 ± 0.09 a | 0.05 ± 0.01 a |
0.09 ± 0.02 a |
30 ± 5.5 ab | 70 ± 5.5 |
| Defoliation | (23 ± 6.2) | 0.57 ± 0.15 ab | 0.67 ± 0.10 a | 0.16 ± 0.04 a |
0.08 ± 0.02 a |
24 ± 6.5 a | 76 ± 6.5 |
| Sterile | 24 ± 8.4 | 0.47 ± 0.26 a | 0.53 ± 0.09 a | 0.36 ± 0.08 a |
0.38 ± 0.06 a |
25 ± 7.9 a | 75 ± 7.9 |
| Fungi | 22 ± 6.7 | 0.84 ± 0.13 ab | 0.39 ± 0.07 a | 0.09 ± 0.02 a |
0.17 ± 0.05 a |
24 ± 7.0 a | 76 ± 7.0 |
| Weevil | 25 ± 6.5 |
2.9 ± 0.7 b |
0.51 ± 0.14 a | 0.28 ± 0.07 a |
0.07 ± 0.01 a |
29 ± 7.4 ab | 71 ± 7.4 |
| ANOVA | p > 0.05 | p < 0.5 | p < 0.001 | p < 0.001 | p < 0.001 | p < 0.01 | |