Transformations of Nitrogen Following the Application of 15 N-Labelled Cattle Urine to an Established Grass Sward

Whitehead, David; Bristow, A. W.

doi:10.2307/2404310

Cited by 69 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Other studies using urine labelled with 15N-urea have also shown small leaching losses. For example, Fraser et al (1993) recorded a loss of 8% below 1100 mm from an application of urine at a rate of 500 kg N ha -1, while Whitehead and Bristow (1990) measured a loss of 16% below 300 mm from an application rate of 744 kg N ha-1. Thus it seems that a combination of ammonia volatilisation, denitrification, microbial Nimmobilisation and rapid plant uptake may minimise leaching losses in urine patch areas of pasture.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Numerous studies have been carried out to determine the fate of these excreted nutrients and these have highlighted the urine patch as an important component of grazed pasture where mobile nutrients like N, S and K are recycled to the soil and plants (e.g. Ryden, 1984;Whitehead and Bristow, 1990;Williams et al, 1990a;Haynes, 1992, 1993a, b). Urine patches are also the major source of nitrate which is leached from grazed pastures (Cuttle et al, 1992;Ryden et al, 1984).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparison of initial wetting pattern, nutrient concentrations in soil solution and the fate of15N-labelled urine in sheep and cattle urine patch areas of pasture soil

1994

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Three field experiments were carried out to compare cattle and sheep urine patches in relation to (i) initial wetting pattern and volume of soil affected, (ii) soil solution ionic composition and (iii) the fate of lSN-labelled urine in the soil over the winter period. The distribution of Br-(used as a urine tracer) across the soil surface and down the profile was irregular in all the patches. The pasture area covered by Br-in the sheep patches was 0.04-0.06 m 2 and Br-was detected to a depth of 150 mm. Cattle patches were significantly larger covering a surface area of 0.38-0.42 m 2 and penetrating to a depth of 400 mm. The rapid downward movement of urine occurred through macropore flow but even so, over half of the applied Br-was detected in the 0-50 mm soil layer in both sheep and cattle patches. Due to the larger volume of urine added to the cattle patches (2000 mL for cattle and 200 mL for sheep) the effective application rate was about 5 L m -2 compared with 4 L m -2 for sheep. Concentrations of extractable mineral N and ionic concentrations in soil solution were higher in cattle than sheep patches particularly near the soil surface. In both sheep and cattle patches, urea was rapidly hydrolysed to NH +. and nitrification occurred between 14 and 29 days after urine application. Initially the major anions and cations in the soil solution were HCO 3, SO 4, CI-, NH +, Mg ++, K + and Na +, which were derived from the urine application. Ionic concentrations in the soil solution decreased appreciably over time due to plant uptake and possibly some leaching. As nitrification proceeded, NO 3 became the dominant anion in soil solution and the major accompanying cation was Ca ++. The fate of tSN-labelled urine-urea was followed during a 5 month period beginning in late autumn. Greater leaching losses of NO 3 occurred below cattle patches (equivalent to 60 kg N ha-~ below 300 mm and 37 kg N ha-1 below 600 mm) compared with sheep patches (10 kg N ha -1 below 300 mm and 1 kg N ha -1 below 600 mm). While 6% of the applied 15N was leached the amount of N leached was equivalent to 11% of the applied urine-N in cattle patches. This suggests that there was significant immobilsation-mineralisation turnover in urine patch soil with the release of mineral N from native soil organic matter. In both sheep and cattle patches 60% of the 15N was accounted for in plant uptake, remaining in the soil and leaching. About 40% of the applied N was therefore lost through gaseous emission.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of initial wetting pattern, nutrient concentrations in soil solution and the fate of15N-labelled urine in sheep and cattle urine patch areas of pasture soil

1994

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“…Losses of NH, from urine typically average 20% of the nitrogen content of urine deposited on grassland (Whitehead and Bristow 1990).…”

Section: Emissions From Domestic Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A global budget for atmospheric NH3

1992

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Abstract. We provide an assessment of the global sources of NH, in the atmosphere, which indicates an annual flux of about 75 Tg of N as NH,. The emissions from land are dominated by the release of NH, during the hydrolysis of urea from the urine of domestic animals (32 TgN/yr) and by emanations from soils in unmanaged' ecosystems (10 TgN/yr) and from fertilized agricultural soils (9 TgN/yr). Emissions from the sea surface may approach 13 TgN/yr. The total annual source of NH, is in reasonable agreement with estimates of global NH: deposition from the atmosphere, the major fate of atmospheric NH,. As an alkaline atmospheric species, NH, emitted to the atmosphere each year can neutralize only about 32% of the annual production of H+ in the atmosphere from natural and anthropogenic sources.

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“…Three Table 3). When urine is added to soil, almost all the urea N is converted to the ammoniacal form within a few days (Thomas et a1 1988; Whitehead and Bristow 1990) by the action of urease enzymes, and a substantial proportion of the urinary N, often about IS%, is volatilised as gaseous ammonia within 2-3 weeks (Lockyer and Whitehead 1990). Almost all the volatilised ammonia appears to be derived from the urea component of the urine (Whitehead et al 1989).…”

Section: Urea Nmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nitrogenous constituents in the urine of cattle, sheep and goats

Bristow¹,

Whitehead²,

Cockburn³

1992

J Sci Food Agric

209

120

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Ten samples of urine from dairy cows, five from sheep and four from goats were analysed to assess the distribution of urinary nitrogen (N) among various chemical constituents in order to gain a better understanding of the reactions undergone by urinary N in soil. Total N in the cow urine ranged from 6.8 to 21.6 g N litre-l, of which an average of 69% was present as urea, 7.3 YO as allantoin, 5.8 YO as hippuric acid, 3.7 % as creatinine, 2.5 YO as creatine, 1.3 YO as uric acid, 0.5% as xanthine plus hypoxanthine, 1.3% as free amino acid N and 2.8% as ammonia. In the sheep urine, total N ranged from 3.0 to 13-7 g litre-' of which an average of 83 YO was present as urea; creatine accounted for 5 3 YO of the N; hippuric acid and allantoin both accounted for 4.3 YO, while each of the other constituents amounted to less than 1 ' YO of the total N. The goat urine was similar to the sheep urine but with a lower ratio of creatine to creatinine and a somewhat higher proportion (2.0 YO) of the total N as amino acid.

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Transformations of Nitrogen Following the Application of 15 N-Labelled Cattle Urine to an Established Grass Sward

Cited by 69 publications

References 29 publications

Comparison of initial wetting pattern, nutrient concentrations in soil solution and the fate of15N-labelled urine in sheep and cattle urine patch areas of pasture soil

Comparison of initial wetting pattern, nutrient concentrations in soil solution and the fate of15N-labelled urine in sheep and cattle urine patch areas of pasture soil

A global budget for atmospheric NH3

Nitrogenous constituents in the urine of cattle, sheep and goats

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