The effect of nitrogen concentration in synthetic cattle urine on nitrous oxide emissions

• Published in: Agriculture, ecosystems & environment ecosystems & environment, 2014-04, Vol.188, p.85-92
• Main Authors: de Klein, Cecile A.M., Luo, Jiafa, Woodward, K. Benjamin, Styles, Tash, Wise, Bridget, Lindsey, Stuart, Cox, Neil
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Animal productions; Assessments; Biological and medical sciences; Cattle; Cow urine; Drainage; EF3; Emission; Emission factors; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General agroecology; General agroecology. Agricultural and farming systems. Agricultural development. Rural area planning. Landscaping; General agronomy. Plant production; Generalities. Agricultural and farming systems. Agricultural development; Nitrous oxide mitigation; Nitrous oxides; Soils; Terrestrial animal productions; Trends; Urine; Vertebrates
• ISSN: 0167-8809; 1873-2305
• DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2014.02.020

•We measured the effect of cow urine N application on N2O emission factors (EF3).•EF3 values were 0.5–0.9 and 0.03–0.3%; poor and free draining soils, respectively.•On the poorly draining soil, EF3 was independent of N application rate.•On the free-draining soils, EF3 significantly increased with N application rate.•Urine N concentration only affected EF3 when emissions were very low. This study determined a relationship between N concentration in synthetic cattle urine and the nitrous oxide (N2O) emission factor (EF3; N2O-N emitted as % of urine N applied) under field conditions. The results will improve the assessment of the efficacy of N2O mitigation options that affect urinary N concentration and deposition rates. Field studies on two free draining soils and one poorly draining soil were conducted using synthetic urine with N concentrations of 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12g NL−1 (equivalent to application rates of 0 to 1200kg Nha−1). The study on the poorly draining soil also included a urine N concentration of 14g NL−1 (1400kg Nha−1). N2O emissions were measured for up to 18 weeks after urine application using a static chamber methodology. The EF3 values ranged from 0.03 to 0.34% of urine N applied on the free draining soils and from 0.5 to 0.9% on the poorly draining soil. There was a statistically significant (p