Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T14:36:57.214Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The effect of urinary nitrogen loading rate and a nitrification inhibitor on nitrous oxide emissions from a temperate grassland soil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2014

D. R. SELBIE ,
K. C. CAMERON ,
H. J. DI ,
J. L. MOIR ,
G. J. LANIGAN  and
K. G. RICHARDS
D. R. SELBIE*
Affiliation:
AgResearch, Ruakura Research Centre, Hamilton, New Zealand Soil and Physical Sciences Department, Lincoln University, Christchurch, New Zealand Teagasc, Johnstown Castle Soil & Environmental Research Centre, County Wexford, Ireland
K. C. CAMERON
Affiliation:
Soil and Physical Sciences Department, Lincoln University, Christchurch, New Zealand
H. J. DI
Affiliation:
Soil and Physical Sciences Department, Lincoln University, Christchurch, New Zealand
J. L. MOIR
Affiliation:
Soil and Physical Sciences Department, Lincoln University, Christchurch, New Zealand
G. J. LANIGAN
Affiliation:
Teagasc, Johnstown Castle Soil & Environmental Research Centre, County Wexford, Ireland
K. G. RICHARDS
Affiliation:
Teagasc, Johnstown Castle Soil & Environmental Research Centre, County Wexford, Ireland
*
*To whom all correspondence should be addressed. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions associated with urine nitrogen (N) deposition during grazing are a major component of greenhouse gas emissions from domestic livestock. The present study investigated the relationship between urine N loading rate and the efficacy of a nitrification inhibitor, dicyandiamide (DCD), on cumulative N2O emissions from a grassland soil in Ireland over 80 and 360-day periods in 2009/10 and 2010/11. A diminishing curvilinear relationship between urine N rate and cumulative N2O emissions was observed in both years. Despite this increase in cumulative N2O emissions, the emission factor (EF3) for N2O decreased with increasing urine N rate from, on average, 0·24 to 0·10% (urine applied at 300 and 1000 kg N/ha, respectively), during an 80-day measurement period. This was probably the result of a factor other than N, such as carbon (C), limiting the production of N2O. The efficacy of DCD varied with urine N loading rate, and inter-annual variability in efficacy was also observed. Dicyandiamide was effective at reducing N2O production for 50–80 days after urine application, which accounted for the major period of elevated daily flux. However, DCD was ineffective at reducing N2O production after this period, which was likely a result of its removal from the soil via degradation and leaching.

Type
Nitrogen Workshop Special Issue Papers
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 152 , Supplement S1: Special Issue from the 17th International Nitrogen Workshop , December 2014 , pp. 159 - 171
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Amberger, A. (1989). Research on dicyandiamide as a nitrification inhibitor and future outlook. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 20, 1933–1955.Google Scholar
Barrow, N. J. & Lambourne, L. J. (1962). Partition of excreted nitrogen, sulphur, and phosphorus between the faeces and urine of sheep being fed pasture. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 13, 461–471.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bateman, E. J. & Baggs, E. M. (2005). Contributions of nitrification and denitrification to N2O emissions from soils at different water-filled pore space. Biology and Fertility of Soils 41, 379–388.Google Scholar
Blackmer, A. M., Robbins, S. G. & Bremner, J. M. (1982). Diurnal variability in rate of emission of nitrous oxide from soils. Soil Science Society of America Journal 46, 937–942.Google Scholar
Cameron, K. C., Smith, N. P., McLay, C. D. A., Fraser, P. M., McPherson, R. J., Harrison, D. F. & Harbottle, P. (1992). Lysimeters without edge flow: an improved design and sampling procedure. Soil Science Society of America Journal 56, 1625–1628.Google Scholar
Central Statistics Office (2007). Principal Statistics in Relation to Agriculture. Cork, Ireland: CSO.Google Scholar
Chalk, P. M. & Smith, C. J. (1983). Chemodenitrification. In Gaseous Loss of Nitrogen from Plant-Soil Systems (Eds Freney, J. R. & Simpson, J. R.), pp. 65–90. The Hague, The Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff/Dr W. Junk Publishers.Google Scholar
Clough, T. J., Ledgard, S. F., Sprosen, M. S. & Kear, M. J. (1998). Fate of N-15 labelled urine on four soil types. Plant and Soil 199, 195–203.Google Scholar
Clough, T. J., Sherlock, R. R., Mautner, M. N., Milligan, D. B., Wilson, P. F., Freeman, C. G. & McEwan, M. J. (2003). Emission of nitrogen oxides and ammonia from varying rates of applied synthetic urine and correlations with soil chemistry. Australian Journal of Soil Research 41, 421–438.Google Scholar
Clough, T. J., Di, H. J., Cameron, K. C., Sherlock, R. R., Metherell, A. K., Clark, H. & Rys, G. (2007). Accounting for the utilization of a N2O mitigation tool in the IPCC inventory methodology for agricultural soils. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 78, 1–14.Google Scholar
Crutzen, P. J. (1981). Atmospheric chemical processes of the oxides of nitrogen, including nitrous oxide. In Denitrification, Nitrification and Atmospheric Nitrous Oxide (Ed. Delwiche, C. C.), pp. 17–44. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Davidson, E. A., Hart, S. C., Shanks, C. A. & Firestone, M. K. (1991). Measuring gross nitrogen mineralization, immobilization, and nitrification by N-15 isotopic pool dilution in intact soil cores. Journal of Soil Science 42, 335–349.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Klein, C. A. M., Barton, L., Sherlock, R. R., Li, Z. & Littlejohn, R. P. (2003). Estimating a nitrous oxide emission factor for animal urine from some New Zealand pastoral soils. Australian Journal of Soil Research 41, 381–399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Klein, C. A. M., Cameron, K. C., Di, H. J., Rys, G., Monaghan, R. M. & Sherlock, R. R. (2011). Repeated annual use of the nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide (DCD) does not alter its effectiveness in reducing N2O emissions from cow urine. Animal Feed Science and Technology 166–167, 480–491.Google Scholar
Di, H. J. & Cameron, K. C. (2002). The use of a nitrification inhibitor, dicyandiamide (DCD), to decrease nitrate leaching and nitrous oxide emissions in a simulated grazed and irrigated grassland. Soil Use and Management 18, 395–403.Google Scholar
Di, H. J. & Cameron, K. C. (2004). Effects of temperature and application rate of a nitrification inhibitor, dicyandiamide (DCD), on nitrification rate and microbial biomass in a grazed pasture soil. Australian Journal of Soil Research 42, 927–932.Google Scholar
Di, H. J. & Cameron, K. C. (2008). Sources of nitrous oxide from 15N-labelled animal urine and urea fertiliser with and without a nitrification inhibitor, dicyandiamide (DCD). Australian Journal of Soil Research 46, 76–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Di, H. J., Cameron, K. C. & Sherlock, R. R. (2007). Comparison of the effectiveness of a nitrification inhibitor, dicyandiamide, in reducing nitrous oxide emissions in four different soils under different climatic and management conditions. Soil Use and Management 23, 1–9.Google Scholar
Di, H. J., Cameron, K. C., Shen, J. P., Winefield, C. S., O'Callaghan, M., Bowatte, S. & He, J. Z. (2009). Nitrification driven by bacteria and not archaea in nitrogen-rich grassland soils. Nature Geoscience 2, 621–624.Google Scholar
Duffy, P., Hanley, E., Hyde, B., O'Brien, P., Ponzi, J., Cotter, E. & Black, K. (2013). Ireland National Inventory Report 2013: Greenhouse Gas Emissions 1990–2011 Reported to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Johnstown Castle Estate, Wexford, Ireland: Environmental Protection Agency.Google Scholar
Firestone, M. K. & Davidson, E. A. (1989). Microbiological basis of NO and N2O production and consumption in soil. In Exchange of Trace Gases between Terrestrial Ecosystems and the Atmosphere (Ed. Andreae, M. S. D.), pp. 7–21. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Frase, P. M., Cameron, K. C. & Sherlock, R. R. (1994). Lysimeter study of the fate of nitrogen in animal urine returns to irrigated pasture. European Journal of Soil Science 45, 439–447.Google Scholar
Haynes, R. J. & Williams, P. H. (1993). Nutrient cycling and soil fertility in the grazed pasture ecosystem. Advances in Agronomy 49, 119–199.Google Scholar
Hoogendoorn, C. J., De Klein, C. A. M., Rutherford, A. J., Letica, S. & Devantier, B. P. (2008). The effect of increasing rates of nitrogen fertiliser and a nitrification inhibitor on nitrous oxide emissions from urine patches on sheep grazed hill country pasture. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 48, 147–151.Google Scholar
Hutchinson, G. L. & Mosier, A. R. (1981). Improved soil cover method for field measurement of nitrous-oxide fluxes. Soil Science Society of America Journal 45, 311–316.Google Scholar
IPCC (2007). Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Eds Solomon, S., Qin, D., Manning, M., Chen, Z., Marquis, M., , M., Averyt, K. B., Tignor, M. & Miller, H. L.). Cambridge, UK and New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
IUSS Working Group WRB (2006). World Reference Base for Soil Resources. World Soil Resources Reports No. 103. Rome: FAO.Google Scholar
Jarvis, S. C., Scholefield, D. & Pain, B. (1995). Nitrogen cycling in grazing systems. In Nitrogen Fertilization in the Environment (Ed. Bacon, P. E.), pp. 381–420. New York: Marcel Dekker.Google Scholar
Kelliher, F. M., Clough, T. J., Clark, H., Rys, G. & Sedcole, J. R. (2008). The temperature dependence of dicyandiamide (DCD) degradation in soils: a data synthesis. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 40, 1878–1882.Google Scholar
Kool, D. M., Dolfing, J., Wrage, N. & Van Groenigen, J. W. (2011). Nitrifier denitrification as a distinct and significant source of nitrous oxide from soil. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 43, 174–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lampe, C., Dittert, K., Sattelmacher, B., Wachendorf, M., Loges, R. & Taube, F. (2006). Sources and rates of nitrous oxide emissions from grazed grassland after application of 15N-labelled mineral fertilizer and slurry. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 38, 2602–2613.Google Scholar
Ledgard, S. F., Jarvis, S. C. & Hatch, D. J. (1998). Short-term nitrogen fluxes in grassland soils under different long-term nitrogen management regimes. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 30, 1233–1241.Google Scholar
Linn, D. M. & Doran, J. W. (1984). Effect of water-filled pore space on carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide production in tilled and nontilled soils. Soil Science Society of America Journal 48, 1267–1272.Google Scholar
Lovell, R. D. & Jarvis, S. C. (1996). Effects of urine on soil microbial biomass, methanogenesis, nitrification and denitrification in grassland soils. Plant and Soil 186, 265–273.Google Scholar
Luo, J., De Klein, C. A. M., Ledgard, S. F. & Saggar, S. (2010). Management options to reduce nitrous oxide emissions from intensively grazed pastures: a review. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 136, 282–291.Google Scholar
Meade, G., Pierce, K., O'Doherty, J. V., Mueller, C., Lanigan, G. & McCabe, T. (2011). Ammonia and nitrous oxide emissions following land application of high and low nitrogen pig manures to winter wheat at three growth stages. Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment 140, 208–217.Google Scholar
Misselbrook, T. H., Powell, J. M., Broderick, G. A. & Grabber, J. H. (2005). Dietary manipulation in dairy cattle: laboratory experiments to assess the influence on ammonia emissions. Journal of Dairy Science 88, 1765–1777.Google Scholar
Monaghan, R. M., Smith, L. C. & Ledgard, S. F. (2009). The effectiveness of a granular formulation of dicyandiamide (DCD) in limiting nitrate leaching from a grazed dairy pasture. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 52, 145–159.Google Scholar
Muller, C., Kammann, C., Ottow, J. C. G. & Jager, H. J. (2003). Nitrous oxide emission from frozen grassland soil and during thawing periods. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science 166, 46–53.Google Scholar
Mulligan, F. J., Dillon, P., Callan, J. J., Rath, M. & O'Mara, F. P. (2004). Supplementary concentrate type affects nitrogen excretion of grazing dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science 87, 3451–3460.Google Scholar
Oenema, O., Velthof, G. L., Yamulki, S. & Jarvis, S. C. (1997). Nitrous oxide emissions from grazed grassland. Soil Use and Management 13 (Suppl. S4), 288–295.Google Scholar
Petersen, S. O., Sommer, S. G., Aaes, O. & Soegaard, K. (1998). Ammonia losses from urine and dung of grazing cattle: effect of N intake. Atmospheric Environment 32, 295–300.Google Scholar
Qiu, W. H., Di, H. J., Cameron, K. C. & Hu, C. X. (2010). Nitrous oxide emissions from animal urine as affected by season and a nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide. Journal of Soils and Sediments 10, 1229–1235.Google Scholar
Ryden, J. C. (1983). Denitrification loss from a grassland soil in the field receiving different rates of nitrogen as ammonium-nitrate. Journal of Soil Science 34, 355–365.Google Scholar
Shepherd, M., Wyatt, J. & Welten, B. (2012). Effect of soil type and rainfall on dicyandiamide concentrations in drainage from lysimeters. Soil Research 50, 67–75.Google Scholar
Singh, J., Saggar, S. & Bolan, N. S. (2009). Influence of dicyandiamide on nitrogen transformation and losses in cow-urine-amended soil cores from grazed pasture. Animal Production Science 49, 253–261.Google Scholar
Skiba, U., Smith, K. A. & Fowler, D. (1993). Nitrification and denitrification as sources of nitric-oxide and nitrous-oxide in a sandy loam soil. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 25, 1527–1536.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, R. V., Doyle, R. M., Burns, L. C. & Stevens, R. J. (1997). A model for nitrite accumulation in soils. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 29, 1241–1247.Google Scholar
Spott, O., Russow, R. & Stange, C. F. (2011). Formation of hybrid N2O and hybrid N2 due to codenitrification: first review of a barely considered process of microbially mediated N-nitrosation. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 43, 1995–2011.Google Scholar
USDA (2013). Soil Texture Calculator. Washington, DC: USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Soils. Available from: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/survey/tools/?cid=nrcs142p2_054167 (accessed 1 April 2013).Google Scholar
US-EPA (2006). Global Anthropogenic Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gas Emissions: 1990–2020. EPA 430-R-06–003, June 2006. Washington, DC: United States Environmental Protection Agency.Google Scholar
Van Der Weerden, T. J., Luo, J., De Klein, C. A. M., Hoogendoorn, C. J., Littlejohn, R. P. & Rys, G. J. (2011). Disaggregating nitrous oxide emission factors for ruminant urine and dung deposited onto pastoral soils. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 141, 426–436.Google Scholar
Van Der Weerden, T. J., Kelliher, F. M. & De Klein, C. A. M. (2012). Influence of pore size distribution and soil water content on nitrous oxide emissions. Soil Research 50, 125–135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Groenigen, J. W., Kuikman, P. J., De Groot, W. J. M. & Velthof, G. L. (2005 a). Nitrous oxide emission from urine-treated soil as influenced by urine composition and soil physical conditions. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 37, 463–473.Google Scholar
Van Groenigen, J. W., Velthof, G. L., Van Der Bolt, F. J. E., Vos, A. & Kuikman, P. J. (2005 b). Seasonal variation in N2O emissions from urine patches: effects of urine concentration, soil compaction and dung. Plant and Soil 273, 15–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Velthof, G. L., Oenema, O., Postma, R. & Van Beusichem, M. L. (1997). Effects of type and amount of applied nitrogen fertilizer on nitrous oxide fluxes from intensively managed grassland. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 46, 257–267.Google Scholar
Wachendorf, C., Taube, F. & Wachendorf, M. (2005). Nitrogen leaching from 15N labelled cow urine and dung applied to grassland on a sandy soil. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 73, 89–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitehead, D. C. & Bristow, A. W. (1990). Transformations of nitrogen following the application of 15N-labelled cattle urine to an established grass sward. Journal of Applied Ecology 27, 667–678.Google Scholar
Williams, D. L., Ineson, P. & Coward, P. A. (1999). Temporal variations in nitrous oxide fluxes from urine-affected grassland. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 31, 779–788.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williamson, J. C. & Jarvis, S. C. (1997). Effect of dicyandiamide on nitrous oxide flux following return of animal excreta to grassland. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 29, 1575–1578.Google Scholar
Zaman, M. & Blennerhassett, J. D. (2010). Effects of the different rates of urease and nitrification inhibitors on gaseous emissions of ammonia and nitrous oxide, nitrate leaching and pasture production from urine patches in an intensive grazed pasture system. Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment 136, 236–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, H. J., Wu, Z. J. & Zhou, Q. X. (2004). Dicyandiamide sorption-desorption behavior on soils and peat humus. Pedosphere 14, 395–399.Google Scholar