Mineralization of Nitrogen in Soils Amended with Dairy Manure as Affected by Wetting/Drying Cycles

Abstract

Interest in manure management and its effects on nitrogen (N) mineralization has increased in recent years. The focus of this research was to investigate the N-mineralization rates of different soil types in Coastal Plain soils and compare them to a soil from Illinois. Soils with and without dairy composted manure addition were subjected to different wetting/drying cycles [constant moisture at 60% waterfilled pore space (WFPS) and cycling moisture from 60 to 30% WFPS] under laboratory conditions at three different temperatures (118C, 188C, and 258C). Samples were collected from three different soil types: Catlin (Mollisols), Bama (Ultisols), and Goldsboro (Utilsols). Soil chemical and physical properties were determined to help assess variations in N-mineralization rates. Addition of composted manure greatly impacted the amount of N mineralized. The amount of manure-derived organic N mineralized to inorganic forms was mainly attributed to the soil series, with the Catlin (silt loam) producing the most inorganic N followed by the Goldsboro (loam) and then Bama (sandy loam). This was probably due to soil texture and the native climatic conditions of the soil. No significant differences were observed between the constant and cycling moisture regimens, suggesting that the imposed drying cycle may not have been sufficient to desiccate microbial cells and cause a flush in N mineralization upon rewetting. Nitrogen mineralization responded greatly to the influence of temperature, with the greatest N mineralization occurring at 258C. The information acquired from this study may aid in predicting the impact of manure application to help increase N-use efficiency when applied under different conditions (e.g., climate season) and soil types.

Mineralization of organic nitrogen from farm manure applications

“…Thus, organic N release is likely to vary according to manure type and C:organic N ratio. It is also dependent on the activities of decomposer organisms, which are themselves influenced by their physical environment, with temperature a key controlling factor (Watts et al, 2007;Whitmore, 2007).…”

Mineralization and herbage recovery of animal manure nitrogen after application to various soil types

“…All these N transformations are rather complex and controlled by a number of soil factors i.e. soil texture (Sørensen and Jensen 1995a), soil characteristics (Schjonning et al 1999), microbial activity (Bengtsson et al 2002) and environmental factors (Katterer et al 1998;Watts et al 2007). It has been shown in earlier studies that the net N mineralization rate of manure is negatively correlated with the soil clay content (Castellanos and Pratt 1981;Chescheir et al 1986;Sørensen and Jensen 1995a and b).…”

Factores que intervienen en el proceso de mineralización de nitrógeno cuando son aplicadas enmiendas orgánicas al suelo. Una revisión

“…Matus et al (2007) reportaron que la mineralización de N fluctuó entre 3,0 y 5,7 mg kg -1 d -1 , siendo mayor cando la textura del suelo presentaba una mayor proporción de arcilla. Watts et al (2007) mostraron que la mineralización del N orgánico en enmiendas se presentó en este orden: franco limoso > franco > franco arenoso. Otros autores, por otra parte, reportaron que no hubo relación entre textura y mineralización de N (Motavalli et al, 1995;González et al, 1996;Mubarak et al, 2001).…”