scholarly journals Effect of Nitrification Inhibitors on N2O Emissions after Cattle Slurry Application

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Herr ◽  
Thomas Mannheim ◽  
Torsten Müller ◽  
Reiner Ruser

Cattle slurry injection (INJ) has shown to be an efficient measure to reduce ammonia (NH3) losses from soils but it might also significantly increase nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, which can dominate the total greenhouse gas (GHG) release in silage maize production (Zea mays L.). Nitrification inhibitors (NIs) are known for their potential to mitigate N2O. Therefore, we tested the effect of NIs added to cattle slurry before INJ on N2O fluxes from a Haplic Luvisol under silage maize in southwest Germany. We determined N2O fluxes at least weekly, with the closed chamber method over two full years. NIs differ in their chemical and physical behavior and we therefore tested a range of commercially available NIs: 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate, 3,4-dimethylpyrazol succinic acid, a mixture of both, nitrapyrin, dicyandiamide, and 1,2,4 triazol and 3-methylpyrazol. Although not significant, INJ treatments with NI showed lower mean annual N2O emissions than the INJ treatment without NI in the 1st year. The emission reduction by NI of 46% in the 2nd year was statistically significant. In both years, we did not find any difference in N2O release, crop yield, or nitrogen removal between the different NI treatments. In the 1st year, which was extraordinary dry and warm, emission factors (EFs) for all INJ treatments were 4 to 8-fold higher than default EF from the IPCC. Even in the 2nd year, only three NI treatments reached EFs within the range provided by the IPCC. Direct N2O accounted for between 81 and 91% of the total GHG emission. Area- and yield-related GHG emission of the broadcast application with subsequent incorporation was in both years in the statistical class with lowest emission. In contrast, INJ with NIs showed similar GHG emissions in only one year, and consequently, incorporation was found to be the optimum management practice for livestock farmers in our study region.

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 5765-5809 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Eickenscheidt ◽  
A. Freibauer ◽  
J. Heinichen ◽  
J. Augustin ◽  
M. Drösler

Abstract. The change in the German energy policy resulted in a strong development of biogas plants in Germany. As a consequence, huge amounts of nutrient rich residues remain from the fermentative process, which are used as organic fertilizers. Drained peatlands are increasingly used to satisfy the huge demand for fermentative substrates and the digestate is returned to the peatlands. However, drained organic soils are considered as hot spots for nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and organic fertilization is additionally known to increase N2O emissions from managed grasslands. Our study addressed the questions (a) to what extent biogas digestate and cattle slurry application increase N2O, methane (CH4) and ammonia (NH3) fluxes as well as the mineral nitrogen use efficiency (NUEmin), and (b) how different soil organic matter contents (SOM) promote the production of N2O. The study was conducted at two areas within a grassland parcel, which differed in their soil organic carbon (SOC) contents. At each area (named Corg-medium and Corg-high) two sites were established, one was fertilized five times with biogas digestate and one with cattle slurry. For each treatment, fluxes of N2O and CH4 were measured over two years using the closed chamber method. For NH3 measurements we used the calibrated dynamic chamber method. On an annual basis the application of biogas digestate significantly enhanced the N2O fluxes compared to the application of cattle slurry and additionally increased the NUEmin. Furthermore, N2O fluxes from the Corg-high site significantly exceeded N2O fluxes from the Corg-medium sites. Annual cumulative emissions ranged from 0.91 ± 0.49 kg N ha−1 yr−1 to 3.14 ± 0.91 kg N ha−1 yr−1. Significantly different CH4 fluxes between the investigated treatments or the different soil types were not observed. Cumulative annual CH4 exchange rates varied between −0.21 ± 0.19 kg C ha−1 yr−1 and −1.06 ± 0.46 kg C ha−1 yr−1. Significantly higher NH3 losses from treatments fertilized with biogas digestate compared to those fertilized with cattle slurry were observed. The total NH3 losses following splash plate application were 18.17 kg N ha−1 for the digestate treatments and 3.48 kg N ha−1 for the slurry treatments (36% and 15% of applied NH4+-N). The observed linear increase of 16 days cumulative N2O-N exchange or rather annual N2O emissions, due to a higher mean groundwater level and a higher application rate of NH4+-N, reveal the importance of site adapted N fertilization and the avoidance of N surpluses in Corg rich grasslands.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 1787-1797 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. H. Jeuffroy ◽  
E. Baranger ◽  
B. Carrouée ◽  
E. de Chezelles ◽  
M. Gosme ◽  
...  

Abstract. Approximately 65% of anthropogenic emissions of N2O, a potent greenhouse gas (GHG), originate from soils at a global scale, and particularly after N fertilisation of the main crops in Europe. Thanks to their capacity to fix atmospheric N2 through biological fixation, legumes can reduce N fertilizer use, and possibly N2O emissions. Nevertheless, the decomposition of crop organic matter during the crop cycle and residue decomposition, and possibly the N fixation process itself, could lead to N2O emissions. The objective of this study was to quantify N2O emissions from a dry pea crop (Pisum sativum, harvested at maturity) and from the subsequent crops in comparison with N2O emissions from wheat and oilseed rape crops, fertilized or not, in various rotations. A field experiment was conducted over 4 consecutive years to compare the emissions during the pea crop, in comparison with those during the wheat (fertilized or not) or oilseed rape crops, and after the pea crop, in comparison with other preceding crops. N2O fluxes were measured using static chambers. In spite of low N2O fluxes, mainly due to the site's soil characteristics, fluxes during the crop were significantly lower for pea and unfertilized wheat than for fertilized wheat and oilseed rape. The effect of the preceding crop was not significant, while soil mineral N at harvest was higher after the pea crop. These results should be confirmed over a wider range of soil types. Nevertheless, they demonstrate the absence of N2O emissions linked to the symbiotic N fixation process, and allow us to estimate the decrease in N2O emissions by 20–25% through including one pea crop in a three-year rotation. On a larger scale, this reduction of GHG emissions at field level has to be added to the decrease due to the reduced production and transport of the N fertilizer not applied to the pea crop.


2008 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. M. de Klein ◽  
R. J. Eckard

Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions account for ~10% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with most of these emissions (~90%) deriving from agricultural practices. Animal agriculture potentially contributes up to 50% of total agricultural N2O emissions. In intensive animal agriculture, high N2O emission rates generally coincide with anaerobic soil conditions and high soil NO3–, primarily from animal urine patches. This paper provides an overview of animal, feed-based and soil or management abatement technologies for ruminant animal agriculture targeted at reducing the size of the soil NO3– pool or improving soil aeration. Direct measurements of N2O emissions from potential animal and feed-based intervention technologies are scarce. However, studies have shown that they have the potential to reduce urinary N excretion by 3–60% and thus reduce associated N2O emissions. Research on the effect of soil and water management interventions is generally further advanced and N2O reduction potentials of up to 90% have been measured in some instances. Of the currently available technologies, nitrification inhibitors, managing animal diets and fertiliser management show the best potential for reducing emissions in the short-term. However, strategies should always be evaluated in a whole-system context, to ensure that reductions in one part of the system do not stimulate higher emissions elsewhere. Current technologies reviewed here could deliver up to 50% reduction from an animal housing system, but only up to 15% from a grazing-based system. However, given that enteric methane emissions form the majority of emissions from grazing systems, a 15% abatement of N2O is likely to translate to a 2–4% decrease in total GHG emissions at a farm scale. Clearly, further research is needed to develop technologies for improving N cycling and reducing N2O emissions from grazing-based animal production systems.


2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 5423-5450 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Jauhiainen ◽  
H. Silvennoinen ◽  
R. Hämäläinen ◽  
K. Kusin ◽  
S. Limin ◽  
...  

Abstract. Tropical peatlands are one of the most important terrestrial ecosystems in terms of C stocks, and greenhouse gas emissions following disturbances such as deforestation, drainage or wildfire. Nitrous oxide dynamics in tropical peat systems is still poorly known. We quantified in situ N2O fluxes using closed chamber methods and compared them with CO2 and CH4 fluxes at sites representing differing land uses and land use change intensities, i.e. non-drained and drained selectively logged peat swamp forest, clear-felled drained recovering forest, deforested drained and burned peat, and agriculture on peat. The mean N2O flux rates (N2O-N ± SD, mg m−2 h−1) varied as follows: drained forest (0.112 ± 0.293) > agricultural peat in Kalampangan site (0.012 ± 0.026) > drained burned peat (0.011 ± 0.018) > agricultural peat in Marang site (0.0072 ± 0.028) > nondrained forest (0.0025 ± 0.053) > clear-felled drained recovering forest (0.0022 ± 0.021). Most N2O fluxes were < 0.05 mg N2O-N m−2 h−1 efflux, but some modest peat N2O influx readings were also detected. Many very high flux rates (deviating markedly from the majority of observations) occurred both spatially and over time, and further studies using continuous flux monitoring methods are needed to better understand the contribution of these to cumulative emissions. The widest N2O flux amplitude was detected in the drained forest with moderately drained peat (max. 2.312 and min. −0.043 mg N2O-N m−2 h−1. At the other sites the flux amplitude remained about 10 × smaller. Annual cumulative peat surface N2O emissions expressed as CO2 equivalents as a percentage of the total greenhouse gas (N2O, CO2 and CH4) emissions was at the highest 9.2 %, but typically ~1 %.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Martyn ◽  
Joshua Dean ◽  
Han Dolman ◽  
Jorien Vonk

&lt;p&gt;Inland waters can be significant sources of greenhouse gases (GHGs; CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;, CH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt; and N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;O) to the atmosphere, yet they are often excluded from terrestrial GHG balances. Vast stocks of carbon stored in Arctic tundra permafrost soils are vulnerable to mobilisation due to permafrost thawing accelerated by the amplified effects of climate warming at high latitudes. The carbon that is released becomes available to (partial) degradation producing GHGs which inland waters emit to the atmosphere, thus forming a positive feedback to climate warming. Rising temperatures, longer summers and increased precipitation in the Arctic tundra are expected to increase permafrost thaw and degradation rates, therefore the contribution of inland waters to the tundra terrestrial GHG budgets needs to be better understood to assess the strength and timing of the feedback effect in the future.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Field data from lakes, ponds and streams throughout the summer season of three years and from floodplain water present in one of the years was collected. This data was used to calculate CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; equivalent diffusive fluxes from inland freshwaters, and combined with eddy covariance flux tower measurements and with satellite remote sensing to calculate total GHG emissions of the study area.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The results indicate that ponds are the largest contributors to upscaled inland water GHG emissions (around 50%) followed by streams and finally lakes. Streams had the highest emission rates followed by lakes and ponds the lowest, however due to the large surface area coverage of ponds (15% of the study area) they become the largest contributor to the upscaled freshwater GHG emissions. Upscaling of CH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt; and CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; fluxes shows that while the study region remains a GHG sink, inclusion of freshwater emissions reduces its sink capacity by 28% during our reference month July. Assuming that 10% of the study area is flooded in this month, it reduces the terrestrial GHG sink estimate to 45% instead of 28%, partially due to N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;O oversaturation in the flood water in relation to the atmosphere whereas N&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;O concentrations in lakes, streams and ponds are close to zero. Overall the results show that if the Siberian Arctic tundra becomes wetter or more frequently flooded due to climate warming it will significantly affect the total terrestrial GHG balance.&lt;/p&gt;


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (22) ◽  
pp. 6187-6207 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Eickenscheidt ◽  
A. Freibauer ◽  
J. Heinichen ◽  
J. Augustin ◽  
M. Drösler

Abstract. A change in German energy policy has resulted in a strong increase in the number of biogas plants in Germany. As a consequence, huge amounts of nutrient-rich residues, the by-products of the fermentative process, are used as organic fertilizers. Drained peatlands are increasingly used to satisfy the huge demand for fermentative substrates (e.g., energy crops, grass silage) and the digestate is returned to the peatlands. However, drained organic soils are considered as hot spots for nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and organic fertilization is additionally known to increase N2O emissions from managed grasslands. Our study addressed the questions (a) to what extent biogas digestate and cattle slurry application increase N2O and methane (CH4) fluxes as well as the mineral nitrogen use efficiency (NUEmin) and grass yield, and (b) how different soil organic matter contents (SOMs) and nitrogen contents promote the production of N2O. In addition NH3 volatilization was determined at one application event to obtain first clues with respect to the effects of soil and fertilizer types. The study was conducted at two sites within a grassland parcel, which differed in their soil organic carbon (SOC) and N contents. At each site (named Corg-medium and Corg-high) three plots were established: one was fertilized five times with biogas digestate, one with cattle slurry, and the third served as control plot. On each plot, fluxes of N2O and CH4 were measured on three replicates over 2 years using the closed chamber method. For NH3 measurements we used the calibrated dynamic chamber method. On an annual basis, the application of biogas digestate significantly enhanced the N2O fluxes compared to the application of cattle slurry and additionally increased the plant N-uptake and NUEmin. Furthermore, N2O fluxes from the Corg-high treatments significantly exceeded N2O fluxes from the Corg-medium treatments. Annual cumulative emissions ranged from 0.91 ± 0.49 to 3.14 ± 0.91 kg N ha−1 yr−1. Significantly different CH4 fluxes between the investigated treatments or the different soil types were not observed. Cumulative annual CH4 exchange rates varied between −0.21 ± 0.19 and −1.06 ± 0.46 kg C ha−1 yr−1. Significantly higher NH3 losses, NUEmin and grass yields from treatments fertilized with biogas digestate compared to those fertilized with cattle slurry were observed. The total NH3 losses following the splash plate application were 18.17 kg N ha−1 for the digestate treatments and 3.48 kg N ha−1 for the slurry treatments (36 and 15% of applied NH4+–N). The observed linear increase of 16 days' cumulative N2O–N exchange or annual N2O emissions, with mean groundwater level and ammonium application rate, reveals the importance of site-adapted N fertilization and the avoidance of N surpluses in Corg-rich grasslands.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 9289-9314 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. H. Jeuffroy ◽  
E. Baranger ◽  
B. Carrouée ◽  
E. de Chezelles ◽  
M. Gosme ◽  
...  

Abstract. Approximately 65% of anthropogenic emissions of N2O, a potent greenhouse gas, originate from soils at global scale, and particularly after N fertilisation of the main crops in Europe. Thanks to their capacity to fix atmospheric N2 through biological fixation, legumes allow to reduce N fertilizer use, and possibly N2O emission. Nevertheless, the decomposition of crop organic matter during the crop cycle and during the residue decomposition, and possibly the N fixation process itself, could lead to N2O emissions. The objective of this study was to quantify N2O emissions from a dry pea crop (Pisum sativum, harvested at maturity) and from the subsequent crops in comparison with N2O emissions from wheat and oilseed-rape crops, fertilized or not, in various rotations. A field experiment was conducted during 4 consecutive years, aiming at comparing the emissions during the pea crop, in comparison with those during the wheat (fertilized or not) or oilseed rape crops, and after the pea crop, in comparison with other preceding crops. N2O fluxes were measured using static chambers. In spite of low N2O fluxes, mainly linked with the site soil characteristics, fluxes during the crop were significantly lower for pea and unfertilized wheat than for fertilized wheat and oilseed rape. The effect of the preceding crop was not significant, while soil mineral N at harvest was higher after pea. These results, combined with the emission reduction allowed by the production and transport of the N fertiliser not applied on the pea crop, should be confirmed in a larger range of soil types. Nevertheless, they demonstrate the absence of N2O emission linked to the symbiotic N fixation process, and allow us to estimate the decrease of N2O emissions to 20–25% by including one pea crop in a three-year rotation. At a larger scale, this reduction of GHG emissions at field level has to be cumulated with the reduction of GHG emissions linked with the lower level of production and transport of the N fertiliser not applied on the pea crop.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 58-65
Author(s):  
Anna-Marie Murphy ◽  
G. Brett Runion ◽  
Stephen A. Prior ◽  
H. Allen Torbert ◽  
Jeff L. Sibley ◽  
...  

Abstract Agriculture is one of the largest contributors of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To date, much work on reducing GHG emissions has centered on row crops, pastures, forestry, and animal production systems, while little emphasis has been placed on specialty crop industries such as horticulture. In this horticulture container study, Japanese boxwood (Buxus microphylla Siebold & Zucc.) was used to evaluate the interaction of irrigation (overhead vs drip) and fertilizer placement (dibble vs incorporated) on GHG emissions (CO2, N2O, and CH4). Plants were grown in 11.4 L (#3) containers with a 6:1 pine bark:sand substrate with standard amendments. All containers received 6.35 mm (0.25 in) water three times daily. Gas samples were collected in situ using the static closed chamber method according to standard protocols and analyzed using gas chromatography. Total cumulative CO2 loss was not affected by differences in irrigation or fertilizer placement. Total cumulative N2O efflux was least for drip-irrigated plants, regardless of fertilizer placement. For overhead-irrigated plants, N2O efflux was greatest for those with incorporated fertilizer. Efflux of CH4 was generally low throughout the study. Findings suggest that utilizing drip irrigation could decrease N2O emissions, regardless of fertilizer placement. However, when limited to overhead irrigation, dibbled fertilizer placement could decrease N2O emissions. Index words: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, trace gas Species used in this study: Japanese boxwood (Buxus microphylla Siebold & Zucc.)


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 19219-19243
Author(s):  
L. Zhang ◽  
Q. Wang ◽  
H. J. Laanbroek ◽  
C. Wang ◽  
D. Guo ◽  
...  

Abstract. Grazing and mowing are two common practices for grassland management. Mowing is now recommended as an alternative to traditional grazing for grassland conservation in Inner Mongolia, northern China. Many studies have revealed that both mowing and grazing may alter ecosystem properties in various ways. However, little attention has been paid to the effect of mowing on trace gas emissions, especially on N2O flux. In this study, we conducted an experiment to investigate the effects of mowing on N2O fluxes from a semiarid grassland in Inner Mongolia. The mowing experiment, which started in 2003, comprised four mowing intensity treatments, i.e. mowing heights at 2, 5, 10 and 15 cm above the soil surface, respectively, and a control of non-mowing, with five replicates. Gas fluxes were measured through a closed static chamber technique during the growing seasons (usually from May to September, depending on local climate at the time) of 2008 and 2009, respectively. Our results showed that mowing decreased N2O emissions, above-ground biomass and total litter production. N2O emissions were greater in May and June than in other sampling periods, regardless of treatments. A co-relationship analysis suggested that variations in seasonal N2O fluxes were mainly driven by variations in soil moisture and microbial biomass nitrogen, except in July and August. In July and August, above-ground plant biomass and soil total nitrogen became the major drivers of N2O fluxes under the soil temperatures between 16 °C and 18 °C. Overall, our study indicated that the introduction of mowing as a management practice might decrease N2O emissions in grasslands, and both mowing height and soil properties affected the magnitude of the reduction. Our findings imply that grasslands, along with proper management practices, can be a N2O sink mitigating the rise of N2O in the atmosphere.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 759 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dengxing Yang ◽  
Xufeng Mao ◽  
Xiaoyan Wei ◽  
Yaqing Tao ◽  
Zhifa Zhang ◽  
...  

Continuous dams may lead to great variation in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from rivers, which contribute more uncertainty to regional carbon balance. This study is among the first to determine water–air interface GHGs (CO2, CH4, and N2O) in a river with continuous dams in plateau city. Combined static-chamber gas and meteorological chromatography were utilized to monitor the GHGs emission flux at the water–air interface within four continuous dams in the Huoshaogou River in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, China. A variation coefficient (VC) and amplification coefficient (AC) were designed to detect the influence of continuous dams on GHG emissions. Results indicate that (1) cascade dams presented an amplifying effect on GHGs emissions from the water-air interface. The VCs of three types of GHGs are 3.7–6.7 times higher than those of the undammed area. The ACs of three types of GHGs are 2.7–4.1 times larger than environmental factors; (2) the average GHG emission fluxes in some dams are higher than that of the first dam, indicating that an amplifying effect may have been accumulated by some continuous dams; (3) EC, pH, Twater, Tair and TDS are found to be principle influencing factors of GHG emission and light intensity, Twater, TOC (plant), TN (sediment) and TOC (sediment) are found to be associated with accumulative changes in GHG emission.


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