Nitrous oxide emissions from in situ deposition of N-labeled ryegrass litter in a pasture soil.

During pasture grazing, freshly harvested herbage (litterfall) is dropped onto soils from the mouths of dairy cattle, potentially inducing nitrous oxide (NO) emissions. Although the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommends accounting for NO emissions from arable crop residues in national inventories, emissions from the litterfall of grazed pasture systems are not recognized. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential of litterfall to contribute to NO emissions in a field study located on a pasture site in Canterbury, New Zealand (43°38.50' S, 172°27.17' E). We applied N-labeled perennial ryegrass ( L.) to the surface of a pastoral soil (Temuka clay loam) and, for up to 139 d thereafter, quantified the contribution of herbage decomposition to NO production and soil N dynamics. Litterfall contributed to the N enrichment of soil NO-N and NO-N pools. After 49 d, N recovery as NO equated to 0.93% of the surface-applied litter N, with 38 to 75% of the cumulative NO flux occurring within 4 to 10 d of treatment application. Emissions of NO likely resulted from ammonification followed by a coupling of nitrification and denitrification during litter decomposition on the soil surface. The emission factor of the litter deposited in situ was 1.2 ± 0.2%, which is not substantially greater than the IPCC default emission factor value of 1% for crop residues. Further in situ studies using different pasture species and litterfall rates are required to understand the microbial processes responsible for litter-induced NO emissions.

Intensive cattle grazing affects pasture litter-fall: an unrecognized nitrous oxide source.

The rationale for this study came from observing grazing dairy cattle dropping freshly harvested plant material onto the soil surface, hereafter called litter-fall. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines include NO emissions during pasture renewal but do not consider NO emissions that may result from litter-fall. The objectives of this study were to determine litter-fall rates and to assess indicative NO emission factors (EFs) for the dominant pasture species (perennial ryegrass [ L.] and white clover [ L.]). Herbage was vacuumed from intensively managed dairy pastures before and after 30 different grazing events when cows (84 cows ha) grazed for 24 h according to a rotational system; the interval between grazing events ranged from 21 to 30 d. A laboratory incubation study was performed to assess potential EF values for the pasture species at two soil moisture contents. Finely ground pasture material was incubated under controlled laboratory conditions with soil, and the NO emissions were measured until rates returned to control levels. On average, pre- and postgrazing dry matter yields per grazing event were 2516 ± 636 and 1167 ± 265 kg DM ha (±SD), respectively. Pregrazing litter was absent, whereas postgrazing fresh and senesced litter-fall rates were 53 ± 24 and 19 ± 18 kg DM ha, respectively. Annually, the rotational grazing system resulted in 12 grazing events where fresh litter-fall equaed to 16 kg N ha yr to the soil. Emission factors in the laboratory experiment indicated that the EF for perennial ryegrass and white clover ranged from 0.7 to 3.1%. If such EF values should also occur under field conditions, then we estimate that litter-fall induces an NO emission rate of 0.3 kg NO ha yr. Litter-fall as a source of NO in grazed pastures requires further assessment.

Biochar incorporation into pasture soil suppresses in situ nitrous oxide emissions from ruminant urine patches.

Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from grazing animal excreta are estimated to be responsible for 1.5 Tg of the total 6.7 Tg of anthropogenic N2O emissions. This study was conducted to determine the in situ effect of incorporating biochar, into soil, on N2O emissions from bovine urine patches and associated pasture uptake of N. The effects of biochar rate (0-30 t ha(-1)), following soil incorporation, were investigated on ruminant urine-derived N2O fluxes, N uptake by pasture, and pasture yield. During an 86-d spring-summer period, where irrigation and rainfall occurred, the N2O fluxes from 15N labeled ruminant urine patches were reduced by >50%, after incorporating 30 t ha(-1) of biochar. Taking into account the N2O emissions from the control plots, 30 t ha(-1) ofbiochar reduced the N2O emission factor from urine by 70%. The atom% 15N enrichment of the N2O emitted was lower in the 30 t ha(-1) biochar treatment, indicating less urine-N contributed to the N2O flux. Soil NO3- -N concentrations were lower with increasing biochar rate during the first 30 d following urine deposition. No differences occurred, due to biochar addition, with respect to dry matter yields, herbage N content, or recovery of 15N applied in herbage. Incorporating biochar into the soil can significantly diminish ruminant urine-derived N2O emissions. Further work is required to determine the persistence of the observed effect and to fully understand the mechanism(s) of the observed reduction in N2O fluxes.

The effect of lignite on nitrogen mobility in a low-fertility soil amended with biosolids and urea.

Lignite has been proposed as a soil amendment that reduces nitrate (NO3(-)) leaching from soil. Our objective was to determine the effect of lignite on nitrogen (N) fluxes from soil amended with biosolids or urea. The effect of lignite on plant yield and elemental composition was also determined. Batch sorption and column leaching experiments were followed by a lysimeter trial where a low fertility soil was amended with biosolids (400 kg N/ha equivalent) and urea (200 kg N/ha equivalent). Treatments were replicated three times, with and without lignite addition (20 t/ha equivalent). Lignite did not reduce NO3(-) leaching from soils amended with either biosolids or urea. While lignite decreased NO3(-) leaching from an unamended soil, the magnitude of this effect was not significant in an agricultural context. Furthermore, lignite increased cumulative N2O production from soils receiving urea by 90%. Lignite lessened the beneficial growth effects of adding biosolids or urea to soil. Further work could investigate whether coating urea granules with lignite may produce meaningful environmental benefits.

Ammonia, methane, and nitrous oxide emission from pig slurry applied to a pasture in New Zealand.

Much animal manure is being applied to small land areas close to animal confinements, resulting in environmental degradation. This paper reports a study on the emissions of ammonia (NH3), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) from a pasture during a 90-d period after pig slurry application (60 m3 ha-1) to the soil surface. The pig slurry contained 6.1 kg total N m-3, 4.2 kg of total ammoniacal nitrogen (TAN = NH3 + NH4) m-3, and 22.1 kg C m-3, and had a pH of 8.14. Ammonia was lost at a fast rate immediately after slurry application (4.7 kg N ha-1 h-1), when the pH and TAN concentration of the surface soil were high, but the loss rate declined quickly thereafter. Total NH3 losses from the treated pasture were 57 kg N ha-1 (22.5% of the TAN applied). Methane emission was highest (39.6 g C ha-1 h-1) immediately after application, as dissolved CH4 was released from the slurry. Emissions then continued at a low rate for approximately 7 d, presumably due to metabolism of volatile fatty acids in the anaerobic slurry-treated soil. The net CH4 emission was 1052 g C ha-1 (0.08% of the carbon applied). Nitrous oxide emission was low for the first 14 d after slurry application, then showed emission peaks of 7.5 g N ha-1 h-1 on Day 25 and 15.8 g N ha-1 h-1 on Day 67, and decline depending on rainfall and nitrate (NO3) concentrations. Emission finally reached background levels after approximately 90 d. Nitrous oxide emission was 7.6 kg N ha-1 (2.1% of the N applied). It is apparent that of the two major greenhouse gases measured in this study, N2O is by far the more important tropospheric pollutant.

Seasonal root distribution and soil surface carbon fluxes for one-year-old Pinus radiata trees growing at ambient and elevated carbon dioxide concentration.

The increase in number of fine (< 0.5 mm diameter) roots of one-year-old clonal Pinus radiata D. Don trees grown in large open-top field chambers at ambient (362 micro mol mol(-1)) or elevated (654 micro mol mol(-1)) CO(2) concentration was estimated using minirhizotron tubes placed horizontally at a depth of 0.3 m. The trees were well supplied with water and nutrients. Destructive harvesting of roots along an additional tube showed that there was a linear relationship between root number estimated from the minirhizotron and both root length density, L(v), and root carbon density, C(v), in the surrounding soil. Root distribution decreased with horizontal distance from the tree. At a depth of 0.3 m, 88% of the total C(v) was concentrated within a 0.15-m radius from tree stems in the elevated CO(2) treatment, compared with 35% for trees in the ambient CO(2) treatment. Mean C(v) along the tubes ranged up to 5 x 10(-2) micro g mm(-3) and tended to be greater for trees grown at elevated CO(2) concentration, although the differences between CO(2) treatments were not significant. Root growth started in spring and continued until late summer. There was no significant difference in seasonal rates of increase in C(v) between treatments, but roots were observed four weeks earlier in the elevated CO(2) treatment. No root turnover occurred at a depth of 0.3 m during the first year after planting. Mean values of carbon dioxide flux density at the soil surface, F, increased from 0.02 to 0.13 g m(-2) h(-1) during the year, and F was 30% greater for trees grown at elevated CO(2) concentration than at ambient CO(2). Diurnal changes in F were related to air temperature. The seasonal increase in F continued through the summer and early autumn, well after air temperature had begun to decline, suggesting that the increase was partly caused by increase in C(v) as the roots colonized the soil profile.