N dynamics in highly fertilized plots can be summarized as follows:
(a) at sowing, fertilizer excess that the plant cannot use is assimilated by microbial biomass, which
increases in amount and consumes organic matter
(b) in winter, with a higher demand by the crop and limiting climatic conditions, a high proportion of microbial biomass
dies,
(c) in spring, when precipitations begins, a higher fraction of labile N of dead biomass is mineralized, and
(d) at harvest, when the plant does not consume N, soluble N fraction is subjected to leaching by abundant precipitations
common in the region during this season (Power and Peterson, 1998; Abad et al., 2004).
Thus, one of the main aspects that should be taken into account when planning fertilization is related to synchronization
between application dates and physiological requirements of crops. For practical reasons, farmers prefer to apply the fertilizer at sowing, contributing to the N loss dynamic cycle.