Influence of long-term residue and fertilizer applications on soil humic substances: A study by electrofocusing

Soil samples were taken from the plots of an experimental field that had been treated continuously for 22 years with different residue and fertilizer applications (cereal residues, cattle manure, NH4NO3). The electrofocusing (EF) technique was used to characterize the humic substances extracted from these soils with 0.5 M NaOH. The EF patterns of the organic matter extracted from the soil which had received applications of cattle manure showed many bands focused in the typical pH gradient region of the most humified compounds. The EF patterns of the organic matter extracted from both unfertilized soil and from soils amended with straw appeared to be much less complex. The addition of NH4NO3 did not affect the soil organic matter characteristics investigated with the EF technique. The results obtained show that electrofocusing is a promising technique for the characterization of humic substances and may well be particularly useful in the evaluation of differences that occur in the humic substances in soil due to residue and organic fertilizer applications. © 1992 Williams and Wilkins.