Comparison of ceramic suction cups and KC1 extraction for the determination of nitrate in soil

Abstract

Summary Comparisons of nitrate concentrations in soil core extracts and ceramic suction cup isolates were made on a coarse sand and a sandy loam to evaluate the methods for estimating nitrate concentrations percolating through the root zone. On the coarse sand the comparisons were made at 80 cm on three dates during the winter of 1988/89. For each date, 103 soil samples and 101 or 102 suction cup isolates were taken. On the sandy loam the comparisons were made at 25 and 80 cm on two dates in March 1990. For each date and depth, 57 soil samples and 55–57 suction cup isolates were taken. On the coarse sand the mean nitrate concentrations were the same for the two methods. On the sandy loam the results obtained using the two methods differed significantly in only one of the four comparisons. However, the results indicated that the suction cup isolates differed slightly from the volume‐averaged concentrations obtained from the soil samples. The type of frequency distribution, normal or lognormal, seemed to be influenced both by the mean nitrate concentration and by the soil structure, and thus by the pattern of percolation. The size of sample required to estimate the mean nitrate concentration with a probability of 95% and a precision of 10% varied from 7 to 106.