Can phosphorus fertilisers alone increase levels of soil nitrogen in New Zealand hill country pastures?

Bowatte, Saman; Tillman, R. W.; Carran, Andrew; Gillingham, A. G.

doi:10.1007/s10705-006-9011-4

Cited by 18 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…(1 yr (1 (Lambert et al 1982;Ledgard 2001;Bowatte et al 2006). Generally, this is 3Á15% of N ingested (Whitehead 1995), with the remainder returned in excreta to the paddock.…”

Section: Models Of N and C Cycling In Nz Hill Countrymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Simple models of carbon and nitrogen cycling in New Zealand hill country pastures: exploring impacts of intensification on soil C and N pools

Hoogendoorn

Bowatte

Tillman

2011

New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research

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Concerns about climate change and water quality make it necessary to have a better understanding of the cycling of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) within landscapes. In New Zealand, pastoral farming on hill country is a major land use, and there is little information available at a landscape level on the cycling of C and N within these systems, particularly the impacts of land use intensification. Published information on the individual components of C and N cycles in hill country pastoral systems was used to construct simple C and N models for two notional hill country paddocks with contrasting amounts of annual net herbage accumulation (NHA). These simple models of C and N cycling were used to explore the potential impacts of intensification on soil C and N pools. The C and N models constructed illustrate that both the C and N cycles in hill country pastoral farming are characterised by large fluxes in and out of the system and relatively small annual accumulations or depletions of their respective soil pools. The mechanisms by which these inward and outward fluxes are generated differ greatly between C and N. Most of the C cycling through the soil/plant/animal system in a year is sourced from the atmosphere through photosynthesis in that same year and the annual quantity of C ingested by grazing animals is only approximately 25% of that fixed annually. In contrast, the annual quantity of N ingested by grazing animals is 300Á400% of that added to the system annually by fixation, and most of this ingested N (!80%) is returned to the soil in animal excreta. This contrasts with B25% of ingested C returned in animal excreta. Grazing animals, with their propensity to exhibit camping behaviour, are therefore much more influential in the spatial redistribution of N than C in hill country pastures. The simple C and N models presented in this paper indicate that while land use intensification results in increased inputs of both C and N to the soil, intensification is also likely to result in increased losses of C and N from the soil pool. Which of these processes dominates in a given situation determines whether intensification will result in an increase or decrease of soil C and N. Based on a simple C model, we postulate that if intensification increases NHA by one unit there is likely to be an increase in soil C unless at the same time increased grazing pressure results in at least a three-unit increase in dry matter eaten/harvested. Keywords: carbon; nitrogen; hill country; grazing; intensification Introduction Two environmental issues of major concern are increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and increased concentrations of nitrogen (N) in receiving waters. These are affected by global carbon (C) and N cycles, and soil C and N are major components of these cycles. Hill country farmers are intensifying *Corresponding author. Email: coby.hoogendoorn@agresearch.co.nz Hill country pastoral landscapes occupy a large area of New Zealand, but compared with flat land, relatively little is known of nut...

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“…(1 yr (1 (Lambert et al 1982;Ledgard 2001;Bowatte et al 2006). Generally, this is 3Á15% of N ingested (Whitehead 1995), with the remainder returned in excreta to the paddock.…”

Section: Models Of N and C Cycling In Nz Hill Countrymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(1 could be transferred annually from sloped hill sites to flat stock camping areas (Ledgard et al 1987;Ledgard 2001;Bowatte et al 2006). Animal transfer to camp areas does not necessarily represent a total loss from the system, as the N can still potentially be taken up by plants.…”

Section: Models Of N and C Cycling In Nz Hill Countrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Simple models of carbon and nitrogen cycling in New Zealand hill country pastures: exploring impacts of intensification on soil C and N pools

Hoogendoorn

Bowatte

Tillman

2011

New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research

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“…This N input, as the key driver of overall pasture yield, is strongly influenced by soil P fertility (Moir et al 2000). In general, higher soil P fertility often allows for a larger proportion of pasture legume to be present and to persist in the sward, resulting in greater annual biological soil N inputs (Bowatte et al 2006;Gillingham et al 2008) and increased soil plant available N for sward growth (Moir et al 1995(Moir et al , 1997. As such, highly productive legume species such as white clover, Trifolium repens L., (and pastures) are generally adapted to high fertility soil conditions and do not perform well in infertile and/or acid soil conditions (Haynes & Williams 1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phosphorus response and efficiency of four adventive annual clovers grown in a New Zealand high country soil under glasshouse conditions

Maxwell

Moir

Edwards

2013

New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research

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Maintaining and increasing legume abundance is a critical component of pastoral intensification, increasing nitrogen inputs to nitrogen deficient New Zealand high and hill country pastures and improving feed quality. Establishment and persistence of traditionally sown legume species white clover (Trifolium repens) and subterranean clover (T. subterraneum) is often limited in summer-dry high country. In contrast, naturalized, adventive annual pasture legume species such as cluster clover (T. glomeratum), haresfoot clover (T. arvense), striated clover (T. striatum) and suckling clover (T. dubium) persist on low fertility, summer-dry high and hill country slopes, although little is known about the edaphic requirements of these species. A glasshouse study was conducted to determine the response and efficiency of these four pasture legume species to increasing levels of available phosphorus (P) in a typical, low fertility, acidic New Zealand high country soil, comparing against white clover and subterranean clover as 'reference' species. Trifolium subterraneum was the most productive species (4.4 g dry matter [DM]/pot) and T. striatum yielded the least (0.8 g DM/pot). The order of greatest yield DM response was T. subterraneum T. arvense T. repens T. dubium ] T. glomeratum T. striatum, while the P application rates at which maximum yield occurred varied between species. Mean shoot P uptake was highest for T. subterraneum and lowest for T. striatum (24.1 and 3.8 mg P/pot, respectively). P-response efficiency by species was in the order of T. subterraneum T. arvense T. glomeratum T. repens T. dubium T. striatum. Implications for low input, extensive grazing systems in high and hill country are discussed. Trifolium arvense and T. glomeratum show potential for further P response investigation under field conditions.

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“…P is a macronutrient required for the life of all living cells that plants absorb directly in the form of ortho-phosphorus (PO 4 3-) (Khan & Ansari, 2005). Excessive use of P fertilizers may lead to P soil saturation, causing P transport with runoff bound to soil particles or through drainage (Bowatte et al, 2006). Most P in inland waters is contributed by point sources (wastewater treatment plants).…”

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confidence: 99%

Modelling of Surface Water Quality by Catchment Model SWAT

Glavan¹,

Pintar²

2012

Studies on Water Management Issues

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Can phosphorus fertilisers alone increase levels of soil nitrogen in New Zealand hill country pastures?

Cited by 18 publications

References 11 publications

Simple models of carbon and nitrogen cycling in New Zealand hill country pastures: exploring impacts of intensification on soil C and N pools

Simple models of carbon and nitrogen cycling in New Zealand hill country pastures: exploring impacts of intensification on soil C and N pools

Phosphorus response and efficiency of four adventive annual clovers grown in a New Zealand high country soil under glasshouse conditions

Modelling of Surface Water Quality by Catchment Model SWAT

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