Seasonality of nitrogen uptake, apparent recovery of fertilizer nitrogen and background nitrogen supply in two Irish grassland soils
Keyword
Apparent recovery of fertilizer nitrogenFertilizer nitrogen for grass
Nitrogen mineralisation
Nitrogen uptake
Seasonality of nitrogen uptake
Date
2013Metadata
Show full item recordStatistics
Display Item StatisticsCitation
P.N.C. Murphy, K. O’Connell, S. Watson, C.J. Watson, J. Humphreys. Seasonality of nitrogen uptake, apparent recovery of fertilizer nitrogen and background nitrogen supply in two Irish grassland soils. Irish Journal of Agricultural and Food Research, 2013, 52, 17–38Abstract
Improving fertilizer nitrogen (N) use efficiency is central to sustainable and profitable grassland agriculture. A plot experiment with a control and fertilizer N (calcium ammonium nitrate, 25–50 kg/ha N) applied on nine occasions from February to September 2002 was conducted at two sites in southwest Ireland to assess N uptake and apparent recovery of fertilizer N (ARFN). Apparent recovery of fertilizer N after eight weeks varied from low in February (21%) and March (46%) to high from April to August (69–98%), indicating that high N use efficiency can be achieved in Irish grasslands at these times. Low recovery in spring suggested that N was applied in excess of immediate crop requirements. Note that N uptake and ARFN values from this study are likely to be somewhat conservative, particularly for spring applications. Over the 8 weeks during which growth was monitored, most (70%) of the grass yield and N uptake response to fertilizer N were in weeks 1 to 4 after application; however, a significant (30%) response occurred in weeks 5–8. This suggested that residual N availability following grazing at 4 weeks can be significant and that there may be scope to decrease N application rates in a grazing rotation. This can potentially improve N use efficiency and decrease N surpluses, with associated economic and environmental benefits. Apparent recovery of fertilizer N was closely related to soil temperature, with a 5.8% increase in ARFN with a 1 °C increase in temperature. Background (non-fertilizer) N supply contributed an average of 164 kg/ha per year (49%) taken up by the fertilized sward, highlighting the potential importance of soil N mineralisation to grassland productivity. Note that these results are for one year at two sites and that conditions may vary between years and at other sites and also that the experiment did not reproduce the cumulative effect of repeated fertilizer application over the grazing year.Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Farm-gate nitrogen balances on intensive dairy farms in the south west of Ireland(Teagasc, Oak Park, Carlow, Ireland, 2008)Nitrogen management and farm-gate N balances were evaluated on 21 intensive dairy farms in the south west of Ireland for each of four years (2003 to 2006). The mean annual stocking density was equivalent to 202 kg/ha (s.d. 29.6) of N excreted by livestock on the farm. The mean annual farm-gate N surplus (imports – exports) declined between 2003 and 2006 (277 to 232 kg/ha, s.e. 6.8; P < 0.001) due to a decline in annual N imports (fertilizer, feed and imported manures; 335 to 288 kg/ha, s.e. 6.9; P < 0.001). Overall annual fertilizer N use on the farms decreased during the study period (266 to 223 kg/ha, s.e. 6.5; P < 0.001) mainly due to lower inputs for the first application in spring and for the production of first-cut silage. These decreases were partly offset by applying more slurry in spring for early grazing and for first-cut silage. The introduction of white clover resulted in lower N imports on four farms. Export of N from farms was unaffected by reductions in N imports. The mean efficiency of N use tended to increase over time (0.18 in 2003 to 0.20 in 2006). The large variation in quantities of fertilizer N applied on farms with similar stocking densities suggests potential for further improvements in the efficiency of N use. In terms of fertilizer N use, complying with S.I. No. 378 of 2006 did not require major changes in the N management practiceson 19 of the farms.
-
Confirmation of co-denitrification in grazed grassland(Nature Publishing Group, 30/11/2015)Pasture-based livestock systems are often associated with losses of reactive forms of nitrogen (N) to the environment. Research has focused on losses to air and water due to the health, economic and environmental impacts of reactive N. Di-nitrogen (N2) emissions are still poorly characterized, both in terms of the processes involved and their magnitude, due to financial and methodological constraints. Relatively few studies have focused on quantifying N2 losses in vivo and fewer still have examined the relative contribution of the different N2 emission processes, particularly in grazed pastures. We used a combination of a high 15N isotopic enrichment of applied N with a high precision of determination of 15N isotopic enrichment by isotope-ratio mass spectrometry to measure N2 emissions in the field. We report that 55.8 g N m−2 (95%, CI 38 to 77 g m−2) was emitted as N2 by the process of co-denitrification in pastoral soils over 123 days following urine deposition (100 g N m−2), compared to only 1.1 g N m−2 (0.4 to 2.8 g m−2) from denitrification. This study provides strong evidence for co-denitrification as a major N2 production pathway, which has significant implications for understanding the N budgets of pastoral ecosystems.
-
Temperate Grassland Yields and Nitrogen Uptake Are Influenced by Fertilizer Nitrogen Source(American Society of Agronomy, 25/01/2017)In temperate grasslands, N source influences greenhouse gas emissions. Nitrification and urea hydrolysis inhibitors can reduce these losses. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of N source, urease inhibitors, and nitrification inhibitors on temperate grassland yields and N uptake. Experiments were conducted at three locations over 2 years (6 site-years) on the island of Ireland, covering a range of soils and climatic conditions. Results showed that calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN), urea+N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT), urea+NBPT+dicyandiamide (DCD), and urea had equal annual dry matter yield. Urea+DCD had lower dry matter yield than CAN for 3 site-years. Calcium ammonium nitrate and urea+NBPT consistently had the same N uptake, urea+DCD had lower N uptake than CAN in 4 of 6 site-years, urea had lower N uptake than CAN in 2 site-years, and urea+NBPT+DCD had lower N uptake than CAN in 1 site-year. Urea+NBPT is a cost-effective alternative to CAN, which is consistently equal in terms of yield and N uptake in temperate grassland.
