Does soil organic matter type influence nitrogen retention?

The goal of this work is to test the hypothesis that as soil organic matter increases, nitrogen leaching from the soil decreases.  We examined soil from two different land uses, forest and old field, representing the transition from agriculture to forest that is common in the northeastern United States.  We first confirmed that the transition from old field to forest corresponds with an increase in soil organic matter.  We then fertilized, incubated, and leached the soils to discern whether soils with more organic matter retained more nitrogen.  Further work will include examining microbial mechanisms underlying the soil carbon-nitrogen interaction.