Utilizing woody materials for fungal-based management of soil nitrogen pools

Application of nitrogen fertilizers to reach high crop production is common practice. However, this can come with an environmental cost, irrespectively of the synthetic or organic origin of the nitrogen fertilizer. Intensively managed soils often fail to retain excess nitrogen, which leads to contamination of ground- and surface water. Next to abiotic factors like soil texture, limited nitrogen retention is ascribed to low activity of saprotrophic fungi. It has been shown that amendment of arable soils with cellulose-rich materials can effectively stimulate resident saprotrophic fungi. The current study investigated the relationship between fungal dynamics (biomass, composition) and nitrogen immobilization-remobilization dynamics upon soil amendment with woody materials Mineral  nitrogen pools, ergosterol and ITS2 amplicon sequences were analyzed during a 6-months pot experiment. Carbon-rich amendments included sawdusts of deciduous (beech, willow) and coniferous (Douglas fir, larch) tr...