Sorption of the cations NH4+, Al3+, Fe2+, Mn2+, and Mg2+ in powdered zeolite and its mixture with soil was monitored. More than 90% of the observed cations were fixed in the zeolite in the first few minutes of the laboratory experiment, which is a very fast speed of sorption, and the ammonia cations reacted fastest. | Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry Turk J Agric For (2014) 38: 739-744 © TÜBİTAK doi: Research Article Influence of natural zeolite on nitrogen dynamics in soil 1, 1,2 3 3 3 Stanislav TORMA *, Jozef VILCEK , Peter ADAMISIN , Emilia HUTTMANOVA , Ondrej HRONEC 1 Soil Science and Conservation Research Institute Bratislava, Regional Workplace Presov, Presov, Slovakia 2 Faculty of Humanities and Natural Sciences, University of Presov in Presov, Presov, Slovakia 3 Faculty of Management, University of Presov in Presov, Presov, Slovakia Received: Accepted: Published Online: Printed: Abstract: Sorption of the cations NH4+, Al3+, Fe2+, Mn2+, and Mg2+ in powdered zeolite and its mixture with soil was monitored. More than 90% of the observed cations were fixed in the zeolite in the first few minutes of the laboratory experiment, which is a very fast speed of sorption, and the ammonia cations reacted fastest. Consequently, the dynamics of the nitrate and ammoniac nitrogen in soil after application of zeolite in different amounts was monitored. A decreased ammonium content was apparent in the variants with zeolite 1 month after zeolite application in comparison with variants without zeolite owing to the specific fixation of NH4+ cations in the zeolite lattice ( mg in the control variant and – mg per kg of soil in the tested variants). Three months later, there was an increase in ammonium content in the variants with zeolite of 24% to 59% in comparison with the control variant owing to gradual ammonium release from the zeolite lattice. Six months after the zeolite application, statistically significant differences were found not only between the control variant and the variants with zeolite, but also between individual variants with various zeolite doses (H = ; P = according to the Kruskal–Wallis test). The nitrification process
