ALBERT

Description: An understanding of emissions from liquid manure facilities during winter, spring thaw and agitation is needed to improve national emissions inventories in Canada. In this study, liquid dairy manure was stored in six pilot-scale tanks (1.8 m deep × 6.6 m2 surface area) covered by steady-state chambers that enabled greenhouse gas (GHG) and ammonia (NH3) flux measurement. After 158 d of undisturbed storage, three tanks were agitated for 5 d (8 h per day) consecutively. During storage, methane (CH4) flux was correlated with manure temperature at 30 cm depth (P 

Description: A kinetic expression for oxygen, nitrate, nitrite and nitrous oxide reduction in soil was developed. The formulation was based on competitive Michaelis-Menten kinetics for a steady microbial population whose respiratory activity was assumed to be constant so that the number of electrons produced per unit of time was constant. Competition among the electron acceptors was characterized by their affinity toward the electron and by their concentration. Several different values for the affinity coefficients were used to simulate the concentration of O2, NO3−, NO2−, N2O and N2 at various times. When relative magnitudes of affinity coefficients were chosen to be 100 000, 1, 100 and 0.1, for O2, NO3−, NO2− and N2O, respectively, the temporal plot of concentration showed that the disappearance of O2 and NO3− was zero order. The accumulation of NO2− was very small and it was rapidly reduced to N2O. The production rate of N2O was nearly zero order but the magnitude of the rate was rather small as opposed to the rate of disappearance of NO3−. The reduction of N2O to N2 took place only after NO3− had almost disappeared. With these competition parameters NO3− was stable in the presence of O2. The reduction of N2O was also very much retarded in the presence of NO3−. NO2− was relatively unstable, even in the presence of O2, and it was further reduced to N2O. With the relative magnitude of the chosen affinity coefficients, the kinetic formulation effectively simulated the "inhibitory" effect of O2 upon the denitrification process, and the "inhibitory" effect of NO3− and NO2− upon the reduction of N2O to N2. Key words: Oxygen consumption, denitrification, kinetics, competition

Description: Usage of mineral nitrogen (N) fertilizers for agricultural crop production systems is a major contributor to anthropogenic nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. As part of a national study to quantify N2O emissions under different cropping systems and in different eco-regions, this study quantified the effect of fertilizer N rate on spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) on N2O emissions in 3 yr in a cool maritime climate with humid soil moisture regimes. Treatments were 0, 75 and 150 kg N ha-1 as ammonium nitrate applied as a pre-plant broadcast. N2O emissions were increased by fertilizer N application in each year. In 2003 and 2005, elevated N2O emissions occurred in the 6-wk period following fertilizer application when soil NO3-N concentrations were high. However, in 2004 and 2005, peak N2O emissions occurred near crop harvest. Elevated N2O emissions at this time were attributed to increased carbon availability due to re-wetting of dry soil. Therefore, the effect of fertilizer N management on N2O emissions may not necessarily occur immediately after treatment application. This emphasizes the importance of measuring N2O emissions outside of the crop growth period. Fertilizer-induced cumulative N2O emissions averaged 0.011 and 0.021 kg N kg-1 N when fertilizer N rate was increased from 0 to 75 kg N ha-1 and from 75 to 150 kg N ha-1, respectively, indicating increased N2O emissions when fertilizer is applied at above optimal rates. N2O emissions increased linearly with nitrate intensity, the summation of daily NO3-N concentrations for 0- to 15-cm depth. This suggests that the non-linearity in the relationship between fertilizer N rate and N2O emissions can be explained by the decreasing efficiency in crop NO3-N uptake at high fertilizer N rates. Key words: Hordeum vulgare, soil nitrate, denitrification, carbon availability

Description: This study examines three methods of evaluating N2O flux and accumulation in soil profile over a growing season under three soil management regimes (fallow, fallow with manure addition and cropped to alfalfa). Estimates of N2O flux were made based on measured soil atmosphere concentration gradients in the top 15 cm and compared to flux estimates based on ex situ cores and micro-meteorological measurements made in parallel studies. All methods indicated strong seasonal trends relating to precipitation events. The amounts of N2O accumulating the profile decreased in the order alfalfa 〈 fallow 〈 fallow/manure. The amounts of N2O accumulating in the profile ranged from ambient (0.35 µL L−1) to 490 µL L−1. Diffusion of N2O to the lower profile was shown to provide temporary storage of N2O and thereby provide the opportunity for further reduction to N2 prior to efflux from the surface. In comparing the estimates of surface flux, all three methods were of the same order of magnitude for the fallow site but profile-based estimates were much lower and much higher for fallow/manure and alfalfa sites, respectively. Differences were attributed to the location and timing of carbon addition in each system. Key words: Nitrous oxide, N2O, flux, measurement, soil, management

Description: Fertilizers are frequently used in agriculture to enhance crop yield and quality. Increasingly, microbial and enzyme inhibitors are being used to enhance the efficiency of fertilizer nitrogen use. The assumption being made is that the impact of these compounds is short-term or localized and thus does not adversely impact soil quality. This study investigates the implications of urea fertilizer with and without urease inhibitor [N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide, NBPT], conventional and zero tillage systems, and soil types on the soil biological characteristics including N mineralization. Microplot studies were conducted in clay loam and fine sandy loam soils in Manitoba. Soil type had a significant effect on the soil organic C but tillage did not have any significant effect. Soil microbial biomass C content ranged widely (131–1215 µg g−1 soil). The clay loam soil generally tended to contain higher biomass C than the sandy loam soil. The potential soil mineral N production (N0) was higher in clay loam soil (92.6 µg g−1 soil) than sandy loam soil (40.2 µg g−1 soil). Tillage systems, urea and urease inhibitor application had no significant impact on the soil biomass C, N0, arylsulfatase or acid and alkaline phosphatase content. At these sites considerable fluctuations occurred in the microbial and biochemical properties due to the variation of soil type. In general, these fluctuations were mainly related to soil organic matter and soil moisture content. Tillage system, urea with and without NBPT application did not contribute any notable impact on the soil biological properties reported in this study. Key words: Soil biological quality, soil type, urease inhibitor, conventional tillage, zero tillage

Description: The effects of a crude oil spill and remediation on the biological quality of an agricultural soil were examined based on three microbiological indices: microbial biomass carbon (MBC), dehydrogenase activity (DHA) and microbial metabolic diversity (MMD). The soils in both contaminated and uncontaminated plots were clay loam Gleyed Rego Black Chernozems developed from lacustrine materials overlying till. The four remedial treatments consisted of: meadow bromegrass (Bromus biebersteinii. Rohman and Schult), alfalfa (Medicago sativa L. ‘Algonquin’), fallow with wheat straw incorporation (SF) and unamended fallow (UFSP). An unamended fallow on adjacent uncontaminated land served as a control (UFCON). The spill had a statistically significant, negative effect on MBC and MMD (P = 0.01 and 0.05, respectively). Although a negative effect on DHA was not significant (P = 0.05), the results show evident trends. The forage treatments were, overall, significantly more effective than the SF treatment in restoring soil biological quality in hydrocarbon contaminated soil to control levels. Based on overall trends only, bromegrass had the greatest effect on soil biological quality relative to the UFSP, followed by alfalfa. The incorporation of wheat straw did not significantly affect any of the examined microbial indices. Key words: Crude oil contamination, soil microbial biomass, dehydrogenase activity, microbial metabolic diversity, soil biological quality

Description: Transport equations for O2, NO3−, NO2−, N2O and N2 were formulated to investigate NO3− stability, denitrification and formation of gaseous nitrogen compounds in a soil profile under different moisture and temperature conditions. The source-sink terms of the transport equations, including those for O2, were based upon competitive Michaelis-Menten type kinetics of denitrification. The equations were solved under various soil and seasonal temperature conditions typical of the Prairie Region of Canada in order to explore the effects of these parameters upon predicted NO3− stability, denitrification product distribution in a soil profile and gaseous N fluxes from the soil surface. The depth to the aerobic-anaerobic interface from the soil surface was controlled by temperature, moisture and microbial activity distributions in the soil. The kinetic expressions predicted that NO3− was generally stable under aerobic conditions since the affinity coefficient of O2 for electrons is much greater than that of NO3−. However, nitrate in the anaerobic zone was subject to denitrification to produce N2O and N2. The N2O produced in the anaerobic zone diffused into the aerobic zone where it was stable and eventually emitted to the atmosphere. As the NO3− concentration decreased, a greater proportion of N was emitted to the atmosphere as N2. Thus, the ratio of N2O to N2 emitted from the soil decreased with decreased NO3−. We found that the potential for denitrification to take place in a soil profile was actually greater in late summer than in mid-summer since subsoil temperatures were higher later on in the season. The ratio of fluxes of N2O to N2 was a function of time, moisture content distribution, the depth at which the maximum reduction of NO3− took place, and NO3− concentration. Key words: Transport, denitrification, gas flux, nitrous oxidenot available