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ARS Home » Plains Area » Lincoln, Nebraska » Agroecosystem Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #153017
Title: MANURE AND N FERTILIZER EFFECTS ON EMISSION OF GREENHOUSE GASSES FROM SOIL

Author
item GINTING, DANIEL - U OF NE/LINCOLN
item Eghball, Bahman
item KESSAVALOU, ANABAYAN - U OF NE/LINCOLN
item SHAPIRO, CHARLES - U OF NE

Submitted to: USDA Symposium on Natural Resource Management to Offset Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/10/2002
Publication Date: 11/30/2002
Citation: GINTING, D., EGHBALL, B., KESSAVALOU, A., SHAPIRO, C. MANURE AND N FERTILIZER EFFECTS ON EMISSION OF GREENHOUSE GASSES FROM SOIL. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON GREENHOUSE GASSES AND ANIMAL AGRICULTURE P. 59. 2002.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Emission from soil is a critical component of global exchange of greenhouse gasses. Our objective was to evaluate C-N gas emission of soil amended with cattle and swine manure and synthetic N fertilizer. Field strips at two (Phillips and Concord, NE) experimental sites were treated with synthetic fertilizer, cattle manure, and swine manure annually since 1998. No treatment checks were also included in each site. In each treatment strip, CO2-C, CH4-C, and N2O-N emissions were measured twice a month in low and high organic C soil sections during 1999 and 2000. In both sites, CO2-C emissions from manure were similar to those from N fertilizer or the control plots 86% of the times. Soil organic C level (93% of the time) did not result in differences in CO2-C emissions. Presumably, the incorporation of corn plant biomass into the soil after harvest masked the effects (if any) of manure and soil organic C level. Emissions of CH4-C were negligible compared to CO2-C. N2O-N emissions at the clay loam soils of Concord (rainfed) were not influenced by organic or synthetic N treatments. At the coarser texture and irrigated soils of Phillips, however, N-fertilizer application resulted in significantly greater N2O-N emissions than manure or control strips even though N applied with manure was almost twice the amount of fertilizer N. In terms of soil greenhouse gas emissions, the use of manure to supply soil N is preferable due to more frequent losses of N2O-N from synthetic N fertilizer.