Effects of Compost Addition on Soil Phosphorus and Nitrate-N Losses in Tile Drainage Water under Long-term Conventional Tillage and No-tillage

No-tillage (NT) is becoming increasingly attractive to farmers because it clearly reduces soil erosion and production costs relative to conventional tillage (CT). However, the impacts of no-tillage on the quantity and quality of tile drainage water are less well known. Accordingly, two adjacent field scale on-farm CT and NT sites were established to compare the impacts of the two tillage systems on tile drainage and NO3-N loss in tile drainage water. The effect of the two tillage systems on soil structure, hydraulic conductivity, and earthworm population were also investigated. The total NO3-N loss in tile drainage water over the 5-yr period (1995-1999) was 82.3 kg N ha−1 for the long-term NT site and 63.7 kg N ha−1 for the long-term CT site. The long-term NT site had 48% more tile drainage (6,975 kL ha−1) than the long-term CT site (4,716 kL ha−1). The average flow weighted mean (FWM) NO3-N concentration in tile drainage water over the 5-yr period was 11.8 mg N L−1 for the NT site and 13.5 mg N L−1 for the CT site. For both tillage systems, approximately 80% of tile drainage and NO3-N loss in tile drainage water occurred during the November to April non-growing season. Long-term NT improved wet aggregate stability, increased near-surface hydraulic conductivity and increased both the number and mass of earthworms relative to long-term CT. The greater tile drainage and NO3-N loss under NT were attributed to an increase in continuous soil macropores, as implied by greater hydraulic conductivity and greater numbers of earthworms.

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Effect of controlled drainage and tillage on soil structure and tile drainage nitrate loss at the field scale

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.1998.0593 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 38 (4-5) ◽

pp. 103-110 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

C. S. Tan ◽

C. F. Drury ◽

M. Soultani ◽

I. J. van Wesenbeeck ◽

H. Y. F. Ng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Structure ◽

Conservation Tillage ◽

Drainage System ◽

Conventional Tillage ◽

Drainage Water ◽

Tile Drainage ◽

No Tillage ◽

Controlled Drainage ◽

Nitrate Loss ◽

Free Drainage

Conservation tillage has become an attractive form of agricultural management practices for corn and soybean production on heavy textured soil in southern Ontario because of the potential for improving soil quality. A controlled drainage system combined with conservation tillage practices has also been reported to improve water quality. In Southwestern Ontario, field scale on farm demonstration sites were established in a paired watershed (no-tillage vs. conventional tillage) on clay loam soil to study the effect of tillage system on soil structure and water quality. The sites included controlled drainage and free drainage systems to monitor their effect on nitrate loss in the tile drainage water. Soil structure, organic matter content and water storage in the soil profile were improved with no-tillage (NT) compared to conventional tillage (CT). No-tillage also increased earthworm populations. No-tillage was found to have higher tile drainage volume and nitrate loss which were attributed to an increase in soil macropores from earthworm activity. The controlled drainage system (CD) reduced nitrate loss in tile drainage water by 14% on CT site and 25.5% on NT site compared to the corresponding free drainage system (DR) from May, 1995 to April 30, 1997. No-tillage farming practices are definitely enhanced by using a controlled drainage system for preventing excessive nitrate leaching through tile drainage. Average soybean yields for CT site were about 12 to 14% greater than the NT site in 1995 and 1996. However, drainage systems had very little effect on soybean yields in 1995 and 1996 due to extremely dry growing seasons.

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Soil phosphorus loss in tile drainage water from long-term conventional- and non-tillage soils of Ontario with and without compost addition

The Science of The Total Environment ◽

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.12.019 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 580 ◽

pp. 9-16 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

T.Q. Zhang ◽

C.S. Tan ◽

Y.T. Wang ◽

B.L. Ma ◽

T. Welacky

Keyword(s):

Soil Phosphorus ◽

Drainage Water ◽

Tile Drainage ◽

Phosphorus Loss

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Crop residue application at low rates could improve soil phosphorus cycling under long-term no-tillage management

Biology and Fertility of Soils ◽

10.1007/s00374-020-01531-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 57 (4) ◽

pp. 499-511

Author(s):

Guohui Wu ◽

Kai Wei ◽

Zhenhua Chen ◽

Dongqi Jiang ◽

Hongtu Xie ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Crop Residue ◽

Soil Phosphorus ◽

Phosphorus Cycling ◽

No Tillage

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Nutrient losses in drainage and surface runoff from a cattle-grazed pasture in Southland

Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association ◽

10.33584/jnzg.2000.62.2399 ◽

2000 ◽

pp. 99-104 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

R.M. Monaghan ◽

R.J. Paton ◽

L.C. Smith ◽

C. Binet

Keyword(s):

Surface Runoff ◽

Dairy Herd ◽

Drainage Water ◽

Primary Objective ◽

Stocking Rate ◽

N Losses ◽

Pasture Production ◽

Leaching Losses ◽

Drinking Water Standard ◽

Nitrate N

In response to local concerns about the expanding Southland dairy herd, a 4-year study was initiated in 1995 with the primary objective of quantifying nitrate-N losses to waterways from intensively grazed cattle pastures. Treatments were annual N fertiliser inputs of 0, 100, 200 or 400 kg N/ha. Stocking rate was set according to the pasture production on each of these four treatments, and over the 4 years of study ranged between the equivalent of 2.0 cows/ha for the 0N treatment, to 3.0 cows/ha for the treatment receiving 400 kg N/ ha/year. Mean annual losses of nitrate-N in drainage were 30, 34, 46 and 56 kg N/ha for the 0, 100, 200 and 400 kg N/ha/year treatments, respectively. Corresponding mean nitrate-N concentrations in drainage waters were 8.3, 9.2, 12.5 and 15.4 mg/ l, respectively. Very little direct leaching of fertiliser N was observed, even for drainage events in early spring, shortly after urea fertiliser application. The increased nitrate-N losses at higher rates of N fertiliser addition were instead owing to the indirect effect of increasing returns of urine and dung N to pasture. In Years 2 and 3, leaching losses of Ca, Mg, K, Na and sulphate-S averaged 61, 9, 11, 28 and 17 kg/ha/year, respectively, in the 0N fertiliser treatment. Increasing fertiliser N inputs significantly increased calcium and, to a lesser extent, potassium leaching losses but had no effect on losses of other plant nutrients. Surface runoff losses of Total-P, nitrate-N and ammonium- N were less than 0.5 kg/ha/year. For this well-drained Fleming soil, surface runoff was a relatively minor contributor of N to surface water, even for plots receiving high rates of fertiliser N and at a stocking rate of 3.0 cows/ha. Extrapolating these results to a 'typical' dairy pasture in Eastern Southland would suggest that the safe upper limit for annual fertiliser N additions to this site to achieve nitrate in drainage water below the drinking water standard is approximately 170 kg N/ha. Although losses of Ca in drainage were large, returns of this nutrient in maintenance applications of superphosphate-based products and lime should ensure Ca deficiencies are avoided in Southland dairy pastures. Keywords: cation-anion balances, dairy, N fertiliser, nitrate leaching, surface runoff, Southland

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Comparison of soil CO2 emissions from three different tillage methods on chernozem soil

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-14675 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Márton Dencső ◽

Ágota Horel ◽

Zsófia Bakacsi ◽

Eszter Tóth

Keyword(s):

Greenhouse Gas Emission ◽

Environmental Parameters ◽

Conventional Tillage ◽

No Tillage ◽

Chernozem Soil ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Tillage Practices ◽

The Difference ◽

Tillage Methods

Tillage practices influence soil CO2 emissions, hence many research investigate the long-term effects of conservation and conventional tillage methods e.g. ploughing and no-tillage on soil greenhouse gas emission.The experiment site is an 18-years-old long-term tillage trial established on chernozem soil. During 2020, we took weekly CO2 emission measurements in the mouldboard ploughing (MP), no-tillage (NT), and shallow cultivation (SC) treatments Tillage depth was 26-30 cm, 12-16 cm and 0 cm in the cases of MP, SC and NT respectively. The experiment was under wither oat cultivation.We investigated the similarity in the CO2 emission trends of SC to MP or NT treatments. Besides CO2 emission measurements, we also monitored environmental parameters such as soil temperature (Ts) and soil water content (SWC) in each treatment.During the investigated year (2020 January - December) SC had higher annual mean CO2 emission (0.115&#177;0.083 mg m-2 s-1) compared to MP (0.099&#177;0.089 mg m-2 s-1) and lower compared to NT (0.119&#177;0.100 mg m-2 s-1). The difference of the CO2 emissions was significant between SC and MP (p<0.05); however, it was not significant between SC and NT (p>0.05) treatments. The Ts dependency of CO2 emission was moderate in all treatments. CO2 emissions were moderately depended on SWC in MP and SC, and there was no correlation between these parameters in NT.The annual mean CO2 emission of the SC treatment was more similar to the NT, than to the MP treatment.

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Long-Term Tillage Effects on Seed Banks in Three Ohio Soils

Weed Science ◽

10.1017/s0043174500071459 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 39 (2) ◽

pp. 186-194 ◽

Cited By ~ 129

Author(s):

John Cardina ◽

Emilie Regnier ◽

Kent Harrison

Keyword(s):

Conventional Tillage ◽

Seed Banks ◽

Soil Disturbance ◽

Silty Clay ◽

Silt Loam ◽

No Tillage ◽

Weed Species ◽

Minimum Tillage ◽

Common Lambsquarters

Soils from long-term tillage plots at three locations in Ohio were sampled to determine composition and size of weed seed banks following 25 yr of continuous no-tillage, minimum-tillage, or conventional-tillage corn production. The same herbicide was applied across tillage treatments within each year and an untreated permanent grass sod was sampled for comparison. Seed numbers to a 15-cm depth were highest in the no-tillage treatment in the Crosby silt loam (77 800 m–2) and Wooster silt loam (8400 m–2) soils and in the grass sod (7400 m–2) in a Hoytville silty clay loam soil. Lowest seed numbers were found in conventional-tillage plots in the Wooster soil (400 m–2) and in minimum-tillage plots in the Crosby (2200 m–2) and Hoytville (400 m–2) soils. Concentration of seeds decreased with depth but the effect of tillage on seed depth was not consistent among soil types. Number of weed species was highest in permanent grass sod (10 to 18) and decreased as soil disturbance increased; weed populations were lowest in conventional tillage in the Hoytville soil. Common lambsquarters, pigweeds, and fall panicum were the most commonly found seeds in all soils. Diversity indices indicated that increased soil disturbance resulted in a decrease in species diversity. Weed populations the summer following soil sampling included common lambsquarters, pigweeds, fall panicum, and several species not detected in the seed bank.

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