Search

The influence of soil phosphorous (P) content on the N-cycling communities and subsequent effects on N2O emissions remains unclear. Two laboratory incubation experiments were conducted on soils collected from a long-term (est. 1995) P-addition field trial sampled in summer 2018 and winter 2019. Incubations were treated with a typical field amendment rate of N as well as a C-amendment to stimulate microbial activity. Throughout both incubations, soil subsamples were collected prior to fertiliser amendment and then throughout the incubations, to quantify the abundance of bacteria (16S rRNA), fungi (ITS) and Thaumarcheota (16S rRNA) as well as functional guilds of genes involved in nitrification (bacterial and archaeal amoA, and comammox) and denitrification (nirS, nirK, nosZ clade I and II) using quantitative PCR (qPCR). We also evaluated the correlations between each gene abundance and the associated N2O emissions depending on P-treatments. Our results show that long-term P-application influenced N-cycling genes abundance differently. Except for comammox, overall nitrifiers' genes were most abundant in low P while the opposite trend was found for denitrifiers' genes. C and N-amendments strongly influenced the abundance of most genes with changes observed as soon as 24 h after application. ITS was the only gene correlated to N2O emissions in the low P-soils while microbes were mostly correlated to emissions in high P, suggesting possible changes in the organisms involved in N2O production depending on soil P-content. This study highlights the importance of long-term P addition on shaping the microbial community function which in turn stimulates a direct impact on the subsequent N emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We quantified seasonal nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and the associated emission factors (EFs) from: (i) winter oilseed rape (WOSR) cultivated under conventional tillage (CT) and strip tillage (ST) at four fertilizer rates (0, 160, 240 and 320 kg N ha−1) in 2014/2015, and (ii) grassland plots receiving no fertilizer (0 kg N ha−1), or mineral nitrogen (67 kg N ha−1), and either cattle or pig slurry (50, 100 and 200 m3 ha−1). Greater fluxes were observed at higher soil temperatures and a higher water filled pore space, suggesting that denitrification was the main source of N2O-N from the applied fertilizer/slurry. For WOSR, the N2O EFs ranged from 0.03 to 1.20% with no effect of the cultivation practice on EFs for equal rates of nitrogen fertilizer. Lower EF values were linked to differences in plant growth at individual sites rather than a specific management effect. For the grassland, the N2O EFs were highly variable, ranging from −0.70 to 0.49%, but were generally the highest in treatments receiving the highest concentrations of slurry. The EF values for WOSR illustrates that the Tier 1 approach for calculating EFs may be inadequate and the identification of site-specific effects can aid in refining N2O EF inventories. For the grassland plots all the EFs were significantly lower than the IPCC default values. Although the reason(s) for the low EFs with slurry amendments on grassland is not known, ammonia volatilization could decrease the pool of inorganic N that is available to nitrifying bacteria thereby lowering N2O fluxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global nitrous oxide (N2O) inventory estimates for pasture systems are refined based on measurements of N2O loss from simulated urine patches. A variety of methods are used for patch simulation but they frequently use a uniform wetted area (UWA), often smaller than a bovine urine patch. However, natural patches follow non-uniform infiltration patterns expanding naturally from a point of deposit with a non-wetted zone of influence. Using 2 litres of urine the UWA method was compared, using a 0·156 m2 collar, with a naturally expanding effective area (NEEA) method, using a 0·462 m2 collar under high (HL) and low (LL) N2O loss conditions. The method chosen affects urine nitrogen (N) loading to the soil. Under HL the UWA method induced a N2O-N loss of 280·6 mg/patch, significantly less than the 434·8 mg/patch loss for the NEEA method, for the same simulated urination. Under LL there was no method effect. Efforts should be made to employ patch simulation methods, which mimic natural deposits and can be achieved, at least in part, by: (a) Using a urine volume and N content similar to that of the animal of interest. (b) Allowing natural infiltration of the chosen urine volume to permit tapering towards the edges. (c) Measuring from the zone of influence in addition to the wetted area, i.e. the patch effective area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fertilizer nitrogen (N) contributes to ammonia ( NH3) emissions, which European Union member states have committed to reduce. This study focused on evaluating NH3-N loss from a suite of N fertilizers over multiple applications, and gained insights into the temporal and seasonal patterns of NH3-N loss from urea in Irish temperate grassland using wind tunnels. The fertilizers evaluated were calcium ammonium nitrate ( CAN), urea and urea with the N stabilizers N-( n -butyl ) thiophosphoric triamide ( NBPT), dicyandiamide ( DCD), DCD+ NBPT and a maleic and itaconic acid polymer ( MIP). 200 (and 400 for urea only) kg N/ha/yr was applied in five equal applications over the growing season at two grassland sites (one for MIP). Mean NH3-N losses from CAN were 85% lower than urea and had highly variable loss (range 45% points). The effect of DCD on NH3 emissions was variable. MIP did not decrease NH3-N loss, but NBPT caused a 78.5% reduction and, when combined with DCD, a 74% reduction compared with urea alone. Mean spring and summer losses from urea were similar, although spring losses were more variable with both the lowest and highest losses. Maximum NH3-N loss usually occurred on the second day after application. These data highlight the potential of stabilized urea to alter urea NH3-N loss outcomes in temperate grassland, the need for caution when using season as a loss risk guide and that urea hydrolysis in temperate grassland initiates quickly. Micrometeorological measurements focused specifically on urea are needed to determine absolute NH3-N loss levels in Irish temperate grassland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deposition of urine and dung in pasture-based livestock production systems is a major source of ammonia ( NH3) volatilization, contributing to the eutrophication and acidification of water bodies and to indirect nitrous oxide emissions. The objectives of this study were to (i) measure NH3 volatilization from dung and urine in three seasons, (ii) test the effect of spiking urine with the nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide ( DCD) on NH3 volatilization and (iii) generate NH3 emission factors ( EFs) for dung, urine and urine + DCD in temperate maritime grassland. Accordingly, simulated dung, urine and urine spiked with DCD (at 30 kg DCD/ha equivalent rate) patches were applied to temperate grassland. Treatments were applied three times in 2014 with one measurement of NH3 loss being completed in spring, summer and autumn. The NH3-N EF was highest in spring, which was most likely due to the near absence of rainfall throughout the duration of loss measurement. The EFs across the experiments ranged between 2.8 and 5.3% (mean 3.9%) for dung, 8.7 and 14.9% (mean 11.2%) for urine and 9.5 and 19.5% (mean 12.9%) for urine + DCD, showing that ammonia loss from dung was significantly lower than from urine. Aggregating country-specific emission data such as those from the current experiment with data from climatically similar regions (perhaps in a weighted manner which accounts for the relative abundance of certain environmental conditions) along with modelling is a potentially resource-efficient approach for refining national ammonia inventories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]