Efficiency and Selectivity of Two Methods for Determination
of Nitrogen in Soil Microbial Biomass

S. A. Blagodatskii*, I. V. Evdokimov*, and T. H. DeLuca**

*Institute of Soil Science and Photosynthesis, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, Moscow oblast, 142292 Russia

**Science Complex 402, School of Forestry, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812 USA

Received April 11, 1995

Abstract—A rehydration–extraction method for measuring soil microbial nitrogen was compared with the
widely used fumigation–extraction technique in incubation experiments with gray forest soil and chernozem.
Soils were enriched with water solutions of (NH₄)₂SO₄ (unlabelled or labelled with ¹⁵N) and glucose with dif
ferent C : N ratios. The efficiency and selectivity of the methods, estimated using the conversion factor k_N and
extractability indexes ER' and ER*, were similar. Nitrogen of soil microbial biomass can be measured using
both methods with application of a variable k_N calculated on the basis of the ratio of increments of C and N
extracted.

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