Monday, November 13, 2006
47-4

Effects of Normal and Altered Cattle Urine and Ammonium Nitrate on Nitrous Oxide Flux from Mixed-Grass Prairie.

Scott Kronberg1, Mark A. Liebig2, and Jason R. Gross1. (1) USDA-ARS, Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory, P.O. Box 479, Mandan, ND 58554, (2) USDA-ARS-NGPRL, PO Box 459, Mandan, ND 58554

Bovine urine spots on grassland can produce considerable amounts of N2O.  The primary source of N in cattle urine is urea, and ingestion of small amounts of condensed tannin from some plants can reduce urine urea levels.  This trial compared greenhouse gas flux from a mixed-grass prairie exclosure after application of water, normal and tannin-altered urine, and NH4NO3 fertilizer.  Nitrous oxide emission was quantified by gas chromatography using static chamber methodology over 75 days.  Total applied N concentration for each treatment was 0, 12.7, 8.4, and 12.7 g N L-1 for water, normal urine, tannin-altered urine, and NH4NO3 fertilizer, respectively.  The amount of liquid applied to each chamber was equalized at 384 mL using a single application prior to gas sampling.  Average N2O emission during the measurement period was 13.4, 18.6, 17.8, and 39.2 µg N m-2 h-1 for water, normal urine, tannin-altered urine, and NH4NO3 fertilizer, respectively, but these values were not different (P = 0.12).  Lack of difference in average N2O emission between normal and tannin-altered urine spots may be a result of most N being emitted as NH3, and/or the tannin-altered urine still having such a high amount of N that N2O emission was maximized for this urine too.