Nitrate reduction in soils

studies have shown that nitrate reduction to ammonia occurs in oxygen-deficient soils, hut compared to denitrification nitrogen losses the ammonia accumulation is small.Nitrate reduction to ammonium results in the formation of a product which may under certain conditions be retained by the soil.Since such a reduction has little effect on availability of nitrogen to plants, investigations into the occurrence and mechanism of this ammonia formation are justified.The objectives of the studies in this dissertation are: to investigate the importance of reduction of nitrate to ammonia under water-logged conditions in a range of soils, and in the event of soils being found in which ammonia for mation from nitrate was appreciable, to investigate the mechanism of the formation.