Comparing in situ methods for measuring nitrogen mineralization under mock precipitation regimes

Measurement of soil nitrogen mineralization rates is frequently conducted in situ using a variety of methods, and often producing inconsistent estimates. We conducted a pot experiment to compare rates generated from three different in situ methods (buried bag, covered core, and resin core) under three mock precipitation regimes. Resin core incubations generated the most variable nitrogen mineralization values (9.33–0.09 µg g-1 28 d-1) presumably due to fluctuating soil moisture conditions inherent in the design. Key words: Nitrogen mineralization, in situ incubations, precipitation