Meta-analysis of the effects of undersown catch crops on nitrogen leaching loss and grain yields in the Nordic countries

Валкама, Елена; Lemola, Riitta; Känkänen, Hannu; Туртола, Эйла

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2015.01.023

Cited by 174 publications

(148 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…The largest measured N leaching reductions by CCs are reported for sandy soils in southern parts of the Nordic region. However, on evaluating N leaching results from Nordic studies, including some of the studies presented here, Valkama et al (2015) were unable to find significant differences in CC effects due to soil texture, country, or precipitation conditions. Incorporation of CCs in spring has proven to give the most reliable reduction in N leaching in several studies, but incorporation of grass CCs in late autumn may be preferable with respect to N dynamics in the following growing season (Aronsson and Torstensson 1998).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Perennial ryegrass does not produce seeds during the first year, usually survives the winter (in contrast to the other two Lolium species), and is not overcompetitive. The yield reduction due to perennial ryegrass undersown at the same time or shortly after the main crop, with seed rate 7 to 10 kg ha -1 (6.2 to 8.9 lb ac -1 ), is usually less than 3% (Jensen 1991;Andersen and Olsen 1993;Wallgren and Lindén 1994;Valkama et al 2015), whereas it is between 5% and 20% when using Italian or annual ryegrass (Andersen and Olsen 1993;Lewan 1994;Breland 1996b;Lyngstad and Børresen 1996;Ohlander et al 1996;Känkänen and Eriksson 2007). Other grasses of interest for undersowing, but still not widely used, are rye fescue (Festulolium braunii L.; NilsdotterLinde et al 1994), cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.; Bergkvist et al 2002), timothy (Phleum pratense L.; Känkänen and Eriksson 2007), and meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis L.; Känkänen and Eriksson 2007).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The ability of cover crops to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus losses from arable land in southern Scandinavia and Finland

Aronsson¹,

Hansen²,

Thomsen³

et al. 2016

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

106

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This review summarizes current knowledge from the literature and experimental studies on the role of cover crops (CCs) in reducing nitrogen (N) leaching and phosphorus (P) losses to waters under the marine and humid continental climate conditions of southern Scandinavia and Finland. Field leaching studies from 11 sites indicate that undersown ryegrass (Lolium spp.) CCs are robust, with average N uptake in aboveground CC biomass of 7 to 38 kg N ha -1 (6.2 to 34 lb N ac -1). Use of CCs sown at harvest (e.g., crucifers) is restricted to southern Scandinavia for climate reasons. The mean relative reduction in N leaching reported for all CCs investigated was 43%, but it ranged between 62% increase instead of a reduction after a red clover (Trifolium pratense) CC on a clay soil to a reduction of 85% to 89% with a perennial ryegrass CC on sandy soils in Denmark (36 to 51 kg ha -1 [32 to 46 lb ac]). The data indicate that CCs do not substantially reduce total P losses by runoff and leaching. The effects of CCs on total P leaching varied between a relative increase of 86% and a decrease of 43%. Climate conditions involving freezing-thawing during winter increased the risk of losses of dissolved P from CC biomass. CCs have been implemented to varying degrees into agri-environmental programs. They are mandatory in Denmark and subsidized in Norway, Sweden, and Finland. CCs are grown on 8% of arable land in Denmark, 5% in Sweden, 1% in Finland, and 0.5% in Norway, but CC area is now increasing dramatically in Finland due to a new subsidy program. In all countries there is a need, and potential, for increased use of CCs, but there are several constraints, particularly reduced interest among farmers. There is a clear need to identify CC systems and develop implementation strategies for appropriate distribution of CCs on different soils and regions with respect to required reductions in N leaching and P losses. For this, more knowledge is required, especially about the effect of CCs on P losses (e.g., the effect of species with different partitioning between shoot and root biomass and the effects of CC systems with harvesting of biomass). There is also a need to devise balanced solutions for maintaining and increasing the frequency of CCs in crop rotations to exploit the possible benefits of CCs in reducing nutrient losses.Key words: cover crop species-nitrogen leaching-perennial ryegrass-phosphorus leaching-phosphorus surface runoff Helena Aronsson is a senior lecturer with extension duties and Barbro Ulén is a professor,

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ability of cover crops to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus losses from arable land in southern Scandinavia and Finland

Aronsson¹,

Hansen²,

Thomsen³

et al. 2016

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

106

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“…Because of the potential effects of soil salinity, the nitrogen transformation ratio and uptake efficiency of annual crops might be reduced [10,11]. Superfluous nitrogen fertilizer could also be leached out of the soil or into the groundwater under irrigation [12,13]. Even under good water management practices, approximately 30% of applied nitrogen fertilizer may leach into groundwater [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nitrogen Transportation and Transformation Under Different Soil Water and Salinity Conditions

Zeng

Huang

et al. 2016

Ecological Chemistry and Engineering S

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Soil nitrogen transportation and transformation are important processes for crop growth and environmental protection, and they are influenced by various environmental factors and human interventions. This study aims to determine the effects of irrigation and soil salinity levels on nitrogen transportation and transformation using two types of experiments: column and incubation. The HYDRUS-1D model and an empirical model were used to simulate the nitrogen transportation and transformation processes. HYDRUS-1D performed well in the simulation of nitrogen transportation and transformation under irrigated conditions (R 2 as high as 0.944 and 0.763 for ammonium and nitrate-nitrogen simulations, respectively). In addition, the empirical model was able to attain accurate estimations for ammonium (R 2 = 0.512-0.977) and nitrate-nitrogen (R 2 = 0.410-0.679) without irrigation. The modelling results indicated that saline soil reduced the rate of urea hydrolysis to ammonium, promoted the longitudinal dispersity of nitrogen and enhanced the adsorption of ammonium-nitrogen. Furthermore, the effects of soil salinity on the nitrification rate were not obviously comparable to the effects of the amount of irrigation water. Without irrigation, the hydrolysis rate of urea to ammonium decreased exponentially with the soil salinity (R 2 = 0.787), although the nitrification coefficient varied with salinity. However, the denitrification coefficient increased linearly with salinity (R 2 = 0.499).

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“…This occurs mostly in arable crops from central and northern Europe because of high percolating soil regime (Valkama et al, 2015), but also in semiarid Mediterranean drylands (Gabriel et al, 2013;Quemada et al, 2013). Currently, it is well understood that changing Tesis doctoral de Andrés GARCÍA DÍAZ traditional management to the use of cover crops as catch crops reduces leached and nitrogen loss (Zupanc et al, 2011).…”

Section: Nutrient Lossmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nitrate leaching is a source of water pollution and has been a concern within the scientific community, but it is also a management concern. As a result, there has been a reduction in nitrate leaching in arable crops through cover crops used as catch crops (Valkama et al, 2015;Quemada et al, 2013). However, orchards and vineyards avoid the use of cover crops, and the bare surfaces results in high erosion rates (Atucha et al, 2013;Sang-Arun et al, 2006;Cerdà et al, 2009;Bravo-Espinosa et al, 2014;Taguas et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Groundcover influence on physical and chemical soil properties, runoff and nutrient loss and grape yield and quality in semiarid Mediterranean vineyards

Díaz¹

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Meta-analysis of the effects of undersown catch crops on nitrogen leaching loss and grain yields in the Nordic countries

Cited by 174 publications

References 47 publications

The ability of cover crops to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus losses from arable land in southern Scandinavia and Finland

The ability of cover crops to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus losses from arable land in southern Scandinavia and Finland

Nitrogen Transportation and Transformation Under Different Soil Water and Salinity Conditions

Groundcover influence on physical and chemical soil properties, runoff and nutrient loss and grape yield and quality in semiarid Mediterranean vineyards

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