@masterthesis{Stublla, type = {Bachelor Thesis}, author = {Stublla, Arlind}, title = {Nitrogen fixation of Lathyrus odoratus (sweet pea), Vicia sativa (common vetch) and Phaseolus vulgaris (common beans)}, school = {Hochschule Rhein-Waal}, pages = {45}, abstract = {Current agricultural practices depend heavily on inorganic and organic fertilizer use. These fertilizers not only can cost a lot of money, but also impose major environmental and health risks for the farmers that apply it. A solution to this problem, is the use of legume`s BNF (biological nitrogen fixation) to ecologically and inexpensively increase the amount of nitrogen (N) in the soil and the crops grown by the farmers. The aim of this study is to investigate this ability in three plants: Lathyrus odoratus (sweet peas), Vicia sativa (common vetch) and Phaseolus vulgaris (common beans) with a greater focus on Lathyrus ssp. The plants were grown in the Rhine-Waal University`s greenhouse, where two treatments were applied: one treatment with no additional N added to the soil and the other treatment with 20 kg/ha N. The soil was a mixture of agricultural soil and quartz sand. To detect the BNF (\%NDFA and mg NDFA), the 15N isotope dilution method was used. This method requires the application of 15N enriched fertilizer on both nitrogen fixer crop and a control crop (Secale cereale). As such for each plant species five pots with 4 plants (later thinned out to 3) and one pot for the control crop per treatment were planted. The plants were supported with sticks and ropes to properly allow them to grow. Phaseolus vulgaris was harvested with flowers and beans present, while Lathyrus odoratus and Vicia sativa showed no signs of flowers buds. All plant species had a good amount of \%NDFA (nitrogen derived from atmosphere) with Phaseolus vulgaris achieving the highest amount of 71.31\% for the 0N treatment and Lathyrus odoratus, 35.01\% for the 20N treatment. The most amount of mg N derived from atmosphere (mg NDFA) was collected from Phaseolus vulgaris (33.464 and 27.858 mg NDFA for 0N and 20N treatment respectively). When investigated for correlation between several factors affecting BNF, length and nodule size had a positive significant relationship with BNF with a Spearman`s rho value of 0.69 and 0.39 respectively for the 0N treatment. Although Lathyrus odoratus had the lowest performance from all plant species, it has been suggested that this may be due the plant being in the initial stages of growth. Lathyrus odoratus will require field experiments to properly quantify the amount of BNF (kg/ha) and to assess the adaptability of the crop in field environments}, language = {en} }