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DIVISION S-8—NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT & SOIL & PLANT ANALYSIS

Cattle Slurry Affects Nitrous Oxide and Dinitrogen Emissions from Fertilizer Nitrate

Dep. of Agriculture and Rural Development, Agricultural and Environmental Science Division, Newforge Lane, Belfast BT9 5PX, UK

* Corresponding author (jim.stevens{at}dardni.gov.uk)

Readily decomposable C in organic manures could enhance denitrification of NO₃ existing in soil. The worst scenario occurs when farmers apply manures and NO₃-containing fertilizers at the same time to meet the nutrient requirements of the next crop. If the denitrification produced N₂O rather than N₂, the emission factor of 1.25% of fertilizer N used to calculate national inventories for N₂O would be an underestimate for this farming practice. We used the ¹⁵N gas–flux method to measure N₂O and N₂ fluxes from grassland when cattle slurry (CS) containing 60 kg NH₄–N ha^-1 and KNO₃ (60 kg N ha^-1) were applied at the same time. By labeling the KNO₃ and the NH₄ in CS, we quantified the processes producing N₂O and checked for N₂ production by microbial processes other than denitrification. On average over field experiments replicated in March, May, August, and September 1997, CS increased the flux of N₂O by 0.63% of the applied NO₃–N in the 104 h after application, but had no significant effect on the flux of N₂. The maximum flux of N₂O was always observed in the first measurement period (5–7 h) after CS application. All of the N₂O was formed by reduction from NO₃ apart from in August when 10% was formed by nitrification in the CS treatment. There was no evidence for production of N₂ by other processes such as heterotrophic nitrifier denitrification or anaerobic NH₄ oxidation.

Abbreviations: CS, cattle slurry • IPCC, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change • NAP, periplasmic nitrate reductase • NAR, membrane-bound nitrate reductase • VFA, volatile fatty acid

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