ABSTRACT
As part of an EU project, long-term experiments at different locations were investigated with regard to carbon and nitrogen dynamics. Besides the evaluation of long-term data series, an extensive assay program was accomplished on selected treatments to compare the effectiveness of methods for characterisation and quantification of C–N dynamics. The comparison of long-term results of different C and N levels offers the possibility to quantify the C and N dynamics of the soil and their relationship to chemical, physical, and biological soil properties. Soil microbial biomass plays a major role as a catalyst in the decomposition and transformation of Soil organic matter. The organic carbon content of the soil was determined by dry combustion after Stroehlein, the total nitrogen content after Kjeldahl. DMSO reduction and ß Glucosidase activity among the biological soil characteristics show a close correlation to the decomposable carbon, while biomass differed in different location and revealed a close connection to the total organic carbon content.
