A review of models for investigating the behaviour of nitrogen in soil

Abstract

An efficient way to integrate knowledge on the behaviour of nitrogen in soil is by the development of mathematical models. Models are developed for several aims, such as prediction, management or scientific understanding. Prediction and management models are mainly based on a statistical treatment of data series from preceding years. Models that have been made to obtain a better understanding of the nitrogen cycle are usually based on a mechanistic description of processes such as leaching, volatilization of ammonia, mineralization, immobilization, nitrification, denitrification and uptake by the roots. Differences between models occur because these processes are described with varying degrees of sophistication; often, the description of one or two of the processes dominate the entire model. Thus, a classification of models can be based on the processes that are emphasized. A useful categorization distinguishes between transport models, organic matter models and soil-plant relation models.