Abstract

A bioassay experiment was carried out to assess soil fertility of wetland and adjacent reclaimed wetland (agricultural-land) areas in comparison to their nitrogen contents. Though wetland soils had more total N than agricultural-land soils, the greenhouse findings suggest that organic matter in wetlands does not mineralize as readily as in soils drained for longer periods. Also, when total N increased, the roots to shoots (R:S) ratio decreased thus favoring shoot growth, but less so in wetland soil (r = -0.1) than in agricultural soil (r = -0.2).  In fact, the C/N ratios indicated that poor nutrient quality in wetland soils as compared to agricultural-land soils. Wetland soils had more acidic pH values which impeded the growing of the maize and shifted the partitioning towards the roots.

Key words:  R:S ratio, total N, total biomass, maize, C/N ratio.