Effect of nitrogen fertilizer application rate on yield, methane and nitrous oxide emissions from switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.)

2014 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Wile ◽  
David L. Burton ◽  
Mehdi Sharifi ◽  
Derek Lynch ◽  
Michael Main ◽  
...  

Wile, A., Burton, D. L., Sharifi, M., Lynch, D., Main, M. and Papadopoulos, Y. A. 2014. Effect of nitrogen fertilizer application rate on yield, methane and nitrous oxide emissions from switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.). Can. J. Soil Sci. 94: 129–137. This 2-yr (2008–2009) study conducted in Truro, Nova Scotia, measured plant biomass production (yield and ash content) and greenhouse gas emissions (methane and nitrous oxide), from the bioenergy crops switchgrass (SG; Panicum virgatum L.) and reed canarygrass (RCG; Phalaris arundinacea L.) receiving spring application of nitrogen fertilizer at 0, 40 and 120 kg N ha−1. In both years, crop yields were unresponsive to N fertilizer. In 2008, SG average yields were greater than RCG producing 7.0 vs. 4.6 Mg ha−1, respectively, while ash content was significantly greater for RCG in both years. Cumulative seasonal (May–November) N2O emissions were<1 kg N2O-N ha−1 in 2008 and<0.2 kg N2O-N ha−1 in 2009 with crop (SG>RCG) and N fertilizer (N120>N40=N0) effects found in 2008 only. Nitrate exposure was greater for SG in 2008 only, but responded to N fertilization in both years (N120>N0). These crops were net sinks for methane and the magnitude of the sink was not influenced by crop type, N fertilization or year. Despite lower yields, the greenhouse gas intensity calculated for RCG (−2 to 20 kg CO2e t−1 biomass) was lower than for SG (8 – 60 kg CO2e t−1 biomass) as a result of lower N2O emissions.

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 711-719 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javed Iqbal ◽  
David C. Mitchell ◽  
Daniel W. Barker ◽  
Fernando Miguez ◽  
John E. Sawyer ◽  
...  

2006 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 235-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. F. Grant ◽  
E. Pattey ◽  
T. W. Goddard ◽  
L. M. Kryzanowski ◽  
H. Puurveen

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. eabb7118
Author(s):  
E. Harris ◽  
E. Diaz-Pines ◽  
E. Stoll ◽  
M. Schloter ◽  
S. Schulz ◽  
...  

Nitrous oxide is a powerful greenhouse gas whose atmospheric growth rate has accelerated over the past decade. Most anthropogenic N2O emissions result from soil N fertilization, which is converted to N2O via oxic nitrification and anoxic denitrification pathways. Drought-affected soils are expected to be well oxygenated; however, using high-resolution isotopic measurements, we found that denitrifying pathways dominated N2O emissions during a severe drought applied to managed grassland. This was due to a reversible, drought-induced enrichment in nitrogen-bearing organic matter on soil microaggregates and suggested a strong role for chemo- or codenitrification. Throughout rewetting, denitrification dominated emissions, despite high variability in fluxes. Total N2O flux and denitrification contribution were significantly higher during rewetting than for control plots at the same soil moisture range. The observed feedbacks between precipitation changes induced by climate change and N2O emission pathways are sufficient to account for the accelerating N2O growth rate observed over the past decade.


2011 ◽  
Vol 45 (9) ◽  
pp. 1775-1779 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shan Lin ◽  
Javed Iqbal ◽  
Ronggui Hu ◽  
Jinshui Wu ◽  
Jinsong Zhao ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 154 (5) ◽  
pp. 812-827 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. BELL ◽  
J. M. CLOY ◽  
C. F. E. TOPP ◽  
B. C. BALL ◽  
A. BAGNALL ◽  
...  

SUMMARYIncreasing recognition of the extent to which nitrous oxide (N2O) contributes to climate change has resulted in greater demand to improve quantification of N2O emissions, identify emission sources and suggest mitigation options. Agriculture is by far the largest source and grasslands, occupying c. 0·22 of European agricultural land, are a major land-use within this sector. The application of mineral fertilizers to optimize pasture yields is a major source of N2O and with increasing pressure to increase agricultural productivity, options to quantify and reduce emissions whilst maintaining sufficient grassland for a given intensity of production are required. Identification of the source and extent of emissions will help to improve reporting in national inventories, with the most common approach using the IPCC emission factor (EF) default, where 0·01 of added nitrogen fertilizer is assumed to be emitted directly as N2O. The current experiment aimed to establish the suitability of applying this EF to fertilized Scottish grasslands and to identify variation in the EF depending on the application rate of ammonium nitrate (AN). Mitigation options to reduce N2O emissions were also investigated, including the use of urea fertilizer in place of AN, addition of a nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide (DCD) and application of AN in smaller, more frequent doses. Nitrous oxide emissions were measured from a cut grassland in south-west Scotland from March 2011 to March 2012. Grass yield was also measured to establish the impact of mitigation options on grass production, along with soil and environmental variables to improve understanding of the controls on N2O emissions. A monotonic increase in annual cumulative N2O emissions was observed with increasing AN application rate. Emission factors ranging from 1·06–1·34% were measured for AN application rates between 80 and 320 kg N/ha, with a mean of 1·19%. A lack of any significant difference between these EFs indicates that use of a uniform EF is suitable over these application rates. The mean EF of 1·19% exceeds the IPCC default 1%, suggesting that use of the default value may underestimate emissions of AN-fertilizer-induced N2O loss from Scottish grasslands. The increase in emissions beyond an application rate of 320 kg N/ha produced an EF of 1·74%, significantly different to that from lower application rates and much greater than the 1% default. An EF of 0·89% for urea fertilizer and 0·59% for urea with DCD suggests that N2O quantification using the IPCC default EF will overestimate emissions for grasslands where these fertilizers are applied. Large rainfall shortly after fertilizer application appears to be the main trigger for N2O emissions, thus applicability of the 1% EF could vary and depend on the weather conditions at the time of fertilizer application.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Zhao ◽  
Xuyong Li ◽  
Yan Jiang

Excessive nitrogen fertilizer application in greenhouse vegetable production (GVP) is of scientific and public concern because of its significance to international environmental sustainability. We conducted a meta-analysis using 1174 paired observations from 69 publications on the effects of nitrogen fertilizer application and reducing nitrogen fertilizer application on the nitrogen losses on a broad scale. We found that the increase in nitrogen loss is much higher than that in production gain caused by excessive application of nitrogen fertilizer: nitrate leaching (+187.5%), ammonium leaching (+28.1%), total nitrogen leaching (+217.0%), nitrous oxide emission (+202.0%), ammonia emission (+176.4%), nitric oxide emission (+543.3%), yield (+35.7%) and nitrogen uptake (+24.5%). Environmental variables respond nonlinearly to nitrogen fertilizer application, with severe nitrate leaching and nitrous oxide emission when the application rate exceeds 570 kg N/ha and 733 kg/N, respectively. The effect of nitrogen fertilizer on yield growth decreases when the application rate exceeds 302 kg N/ha. Appropriate reduction in nitrogen fertilizer application rate substantially mitigates the environmental cost, for example, decreasing nitrate leaching (−32.4%), ammonium leaching (−6.5%), total nitrogen leaching (−37.3%), ammonia emission (−28.4%), nitrous oxide emission (−38.6%) and nitric oxide emission (−8.0%), while it has no significant effect on the nitrogen uptake and yield.


1977 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 1151-1157 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. FRIEDRICH ◽  
DALE SMITH ◽  
L. E. SCHRADER

The effects of N and S fertilization on nitrate reductase activity (NRA) and N fractions were studied in timothy (Phleum pratense L.) and switch grass (Panicum virgatum L.). Soil cores of timothy and switch grass plants were obtained from a marginally S-deficient area at Madison, Wisconsin. The cores were placed in growth chambers maintained near the optimal temperature for each species. Three rates of N (0, 224, 448 kg N/ha as Ca(NO3)2) and three rates of S (0, 11.2, and 22.4 kg S/ha as CaSO4) were applied in all possible combinations. Plants were harvested at anthesis and NRA in the leaves (blades) was determined. Total N, reduced N, nitrate-N (NO−3-N), and free α-amino N concentrations (concns.) were measured in leaves and stems (culms, leaf sheaths, and inflorescences). Fertilization with S had little effect on the concn. of any N fraction or on NRA in either species. Switch grass and timothy were not S-deficient as indicated by tissue S concn. Total N, NO−3-N, and free α-amino N concns. increased significantly in all plant fractions of both species with each increment of N fertilization. "Toxic" concns. of NO−3-N accumulated in timothy leaves when N was applied. Switch grass leaf NO−3-N concn. was less than one-half that found in timothy. NRA and concn. of reduced N in timothy leaves increased significantly only with the first increment of N fertilization. NRA and concn. of reduced N in switch grass leaves increased significantly with each increment of N fertilization. NRA was significantly correlated (0.01 level) with the concn. of every N fraction in the leaves of both species.


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