ARS | Publication request: Denitrification and N20 emissions from Carolina Bays receiving poultry runoff

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: June 27, 2011
Publication Date: October 17, 2011
Citation: Miller, J.O., Ducey, T.F., Hunt, P.G. 2011. Denitrification and N20 emissions from Carolina Bays receiving poultry runoff. In: Proceedings of the 2011 American Society of Agronomy/Crop Science Society of America/Soil Science Society of America International Annual Meeting, October 16-19, 2011, San Antonio, Texas. Available: http://a-c-s.confex.com/crops/2011am/webprogram/Paper64764.html.

Technical Abstract: On the southeastern Coastal Plain, there are depressional wetlands known as Carolina Bays that may receive runoff from agricultural land. Little is known about denitrification and gas emission within these isolated wetlands. Three forested Carolina Bays were selected to observe denitrification enzyme assay (DEA) and nitrous oxide emissions. Each bay was adjacent to farmland receiving poultry manure applications. The upper 6 inches of the soil were sampled across a four-point transect within each of the bays. Gas emissions were measured in the field using a photoacoustic analyzer. The DEA was measured in the lab using the acetylene inhibition method. Emissions of nitrous oxide averaged 3.26 mg/m2/d in the bays in the spring but dropped below photoacoustic detection in the summer and fall. An adjacent soybean field had an nitrous oxide flux of 8.01 mg/m2/d during the summer months following poultry application. Nitrogen runoff into these depressional wetlands appears to have minimal impact on the measured nitrous oxide flux.