Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Banded urea placement did not affect nitrous oxide emission from furrow-irrigated Vertisols

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Episodic nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Vertisols used for furrow-irrigated cotton production mainly occur in response to early season irrigation events. This study evaluated the impact of N fertiliser placement and timing strategies on N2O emissions from Vertisols under cotton production in northeast Australia. We compared N2O emissions in two experiments during the 2015–16 summer. Each experiment consisted of two site-years of data from different commercial cotton paddocks. Experimental comparisons were: (1) all N fertiliser applied pre-plant vs split-N application and (2) applying pre-plant N fertiliser into the irrigated vs non-irrigated side of the plant bed. Where all N fertiliser was applied pre-plant, 46–96% of total N2O emissions occurred in response to the first irrigation. Where N application was split, 33–34% of total N2O emissions followed the in-crop N applications, 2–7 times more than from the same irrigations where no in-crop N was applied (all pre-plant). Splitting N application between pre-sowing and in-season applications gave no difference in cumulative N2O at one site but increased total N2O loss at the other (99 vs 63 g N2O–N/ha). Changing the placement of the pre-sowing N fertiliser band from the non-irrigated to the irrigated side of the hill changed the source location of N2O emissions but the not the cumulative N2O loss. Varying the timing and placement of pre-plant N application affected the spatial and temporal intensity of soil N2O emissions, but generally not the overall total loss of N2O.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allen DE, Kingston G, Rennenberg H, Dalal RC, Schmidt S (2010) Effect of nitrogen fertilizer management and waterlogging on nitrous oxide emission from subtropical sugarcane soils. Agric Ecosyst Environ 136:209–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2009.11.002

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Antille DL (2018) Evaluation of fertigation applied to furrow and overhead irrigated cotton grown in a Black Vertosol in Southern Queensland. Australia Appl Eng Agric 34:197–211. https://doi.org/10.13031/aea.12519

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bremner JM (1997) Sources of nitrous oxide in soils. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 49:7–16. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1009798022569

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Burton DL, Zebarth BJ, Gillam KM, MacLeod JA (2008) Effect of split application of fertilizer nitrogen on N2O emissions from potatoes. Can J Soil Sci 88:229–239. https://doi.org/10.4141/CJSS06007

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Butterbach-Bahl K, Baggs EM, Dannenmann M, Kiese R, Zechmeister-Boltenstern S (2013) Nitrous oxide emissions from soils: how well do we understand the processes and their controls? Philos T R Soc B 368:20130122. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0122

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Constable GA, Rochester IJ (1988) Nitrogen application to cotton on clay soil: timing and soil testing. Agron J 80:498–502

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CRDC (2019) 2018 Grower survey. Cotton Res Dev Corp

  • Davidson EA, Keller M, Erickson HE, Verchot LV, Veldkamp E (2000) Testing a conceptual model of soil emissions of nitrous and nitric oxides: using two functions based on soil nitrogen availability and soil water content, the hole-in-the-pipe model characterizes a large fraction of the observed variation of nitric oxide and nitrous oxide emissions from soils. Biosci 50:667–680. https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2000)050[0667:Tacmos]2.0.Co;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feng J, Li F, Zhou X, Xu C, Ji L, Chen Z, Fang F (2018) Impact of agronomy practices on the effects of reduced tillage systems on CH4 and N2O emissions from agricultural fields: a global meta-analysis. PLoS ONE 13:e0196703. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0196703

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Fillery IRP (1983) Biological denitrification. In: Freney JR, Simpson JR (eds) Gaseous loss of nitrogen from plant-soil systems. Springer, Netherlands, Dordrecht, pp 33–64. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1662-8_2

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Freney J, Simpson J, Denmead O, Muirhead W, Leuning R (1985) Transformations and transfers of nitrogen after irrigating a cracking clay soil with a urea solution. Aust J Agric Res 36:684–694. https://doi.org/10.1071/AR9850684

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grace P, Rowlings D, Rochester I, Kiese R, Butterbach-Bahl K (2010) Nitrous oxide emissions from irrigated cotton soils of northern Australia. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 19th World Congress of Soil Science: Soil solutions for a changing world, Brisbane, Australia, 1–6 Aug. 2010

  • Grace P, Shcherbak I, Macdonald B, Scheer C, Rowlings D (2016) Emission factors for estimating fertiliser-induced nitrous oxide emissions from clay soils in Australia’s irrigated cotton industry. Soil Res 54:598–603. https://doi.org/10.1071/SR16091

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Humphreys E, Freney JR, Constable GA, Smith JWB, Lilley D, Rochester IJ (1990) The fate of your N fertilizer. Paper presented at the Fifth Australian Cotton Conference: the Australian cotton industry under the microscope., Broadbeach, Qld, August 8th-9th

  • Kim D-G, Hernandez-Ramirez G, Giltrap D (2013) Linear and nonlinear dependency of direct nitrous oxide emissions on fertilizer nitrogen input: a meta-analysis. Agric Ecosyst Environ 168:53–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2012.02.021

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Latimer J, Macdonald B, Schwenke G, Nachimuthu G, Baird J (2020) Skip-furrow flood irrigation removes significant nitrogen from the field through lateral leaching. Soil Tillage Res X:xx-yy

  • Macdonald B (2016) Monitoring greenhouse gas emissions from irrigated cropping systems. Final report for project CLW1401. Cotton Res Dev Corp (CRDC),

  • Macdonald BCT, Chang YF, Nadelko A, Tuomi S, Glover M (2017) Tracking fertiliser and soil nitrogen in irrigated cotton: uptake, losses and the soil N stock. Soil Res 55:264–272. https://doi.org/10.1071/SR16167

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Macdonald BCT, Rochester IJ, Nadelko A (2015) High yielding cotton produced without excessive nitrous oxide emissions. Agron J 107:1673–1681. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj14.0369

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McHugh AD, Bhattarai S, Lotz G, Midmore DJ (2008) Effects of subsurface drip irrigation rates and furrow irrigation for cotton grown on a vertisol on off-site movement of sediments, nutrients and pesticides. Agron Sustain Dev 28:507–519. https://doi.org/10.1051/agro:2008034

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mielenz H, Thorburn PJ, Harris RH, Officer SJ, Li G, Schwenke GD, Grace PR (2016) Nitrous oxide emissions from grain production systems across a wide range of environmental conditions in Eastern Australia. Soil Res 54:659–674. https://doi.org/10.1071/SR15376

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rayment GE, Lyons DJ (2010) Soil chemical methods-Australasia. Australian Soil and Land Survey Handbooks Series, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Rochette P, Bertrand N (2008) Soil-surface gas emissions. In: MR C, EG G (eds) Soil sampling and methods of analysis, 2nd Edition. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, USA, pp 851–861

  • Rural R (2017) Cotton growing practices 2016: findings of the CRDC’s survey of cotton growers. Cotton Research and Development Corporation, Narrabri

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheer C, Grace PR, Rowlings DW, Payero J (2013) Soil N2O and CO2 emissions from cotton in Australia under varying irrigation management. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 95:43–56. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-012-9547-4

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Scheer C, Rowlings DW, Grace PR (2016) Non-linear response of soil N2O emissions to nitrogen fertiliser in a cotton–fallow rotation in sub-tropical Australia. Soil Res 54:494–499. https://doi.org/10.1071/SR14328

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schwenke G (2017) Determining optimum nitrogen strategies for abatement of emissions for different irrigated cotton systems. Final Report for Action on the Ground Project AOTGR2–0008. Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC), http://www.insidecotton.com/xmlui/handle/1/4645

  • Schwenke G, Nachimuthu G, Mercer C, McPherson A (2020) Tail-drain sediments are a potential hotspot for nitrous oxide emissions in furrow-irrigated Vertisols used to grow cotton: A laboratory incubation study. J Environ Qual 49:14–26. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20006

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schwenke GD, Haigh BM (2016) The interaction of seasonal rainfall and nitrogen fertiliser rate on soil N2O emission, total N loss and crop yield of dryland sorghum and sunflower grown on sub-tropical Vertosols. Soil Res 54:604–618. https://doi.org/10.1071/SR15286

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schwenke GD, Haigh BM (2019) Can split or delayed application of N fertiliser to grain sorghum reduce soil N2O emissions from sub-tropical Vertosols and maintain grain yields? Soil Res 57:859–874. https://doi.org/10.1071/SR19080

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schwenke GD, Herridge DF, Scheer C, Rowlings DW, Haigh BM, McMullen KG (2016) Greenhouse gas (N2O and CH4) fluxes under nitrogen-fertilised dryland wheat and barley on subtropical Vertosols: risk, rainfall and alternatives. Soil Res 54:634–650. https://doi.org/10.1071/SR15338

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schwenke GD, McPherson A (2018) Mitigation of nitrous oxide emissions from furrow-irrigated Vertosols by 3,4-dimethyl pyrazole tetra-methylene sulfone, an alternative nitrification inhibitor to nitrapyrin for direct injection with anhydrous ammonia. Soil Res 56:752–763. https://doi.org/10.1071/sr18114

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Singh BP, Hatton BJ, Singh B, Cowie AL, Kathuria A (2010) Influence of biochars on nitrous oxide emission and nitrogen leaching from two contrasting soils. J Environ Qual 39:1224–1235. https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2009.0138

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder CS (2017) Enhanced nitrogen fertiliser technologies support the ‘4R’ concept to optimise crop production and minimise environmental losses. Soil Res 55:463–472. https://doi.org/10.1071/SR16335

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Van Zwieten L, Singh BP, Kimber SWL, Murphy DV, Macdonald LM, Rust J, Morris S (2014) An incubation study investigating the mechanisms that impact N2O flux from soil following biochar application. Agric Ecosyst Environ 191:53–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2014.02.030

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Venterea RT, Coulter JA (2015) Split application of urea does not decrease and may increase nitrous oxide emissions in rainfed corn. Agron J 107:337–348. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj14.0411

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Venterea RT, Coulter JA, Dolan MS (2016) Evaluation of intensive “4R” strategies for decreasing nitrous oxide emissions and nitrogen surplus in rainfed corn. J Environ Qual 45:1186–1195. https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2016.01.0024

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wang S, Luo S, Yue S, Shen Y, Li S (2016) Fate of 15N fertilizer under different nitrogen split applications to plastic mulched maize in semiarid farmland. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 105:129–140. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-016-9780-3

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang W, Dalal RC, Reeves SH, Butterbach-Bahl K, Kiese R (2011) Greenhouse gas fluxes from an Australian subtropical cropland under long-term contrasting management regimes. Glob Change Biol 17:3089–3101. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02458.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weier KL (1999) N2O and CH4 emission and CH4 consumption in a sugarcane soil after variation in nitrogen and water application. Soil Biol Biochem 31:1931–1941. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0038-0717(99)00111-X

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yang G-Z, Chu K-Y, Tang H-Y, Nie Y-C, Zhang X-L (2013) Fertilizer 15N accumulation, recovery and distribution in cotton plant as affected by N rate and spli. J Integr Agr 12:999–1007 doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/S2095-3119(13)60477-3

  • Yu Y, Zhao C, Jia H (2016) Ability of split urea applications to reduce nitrous oxide emissions: A laboratory incubation experiment. Appl Soil Ecol 100:75–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2015.12.009

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

These experiments were part of the project ‘Determining optimum nitrogen strategies for abatement of emissions for different irrigated cotton systems’, AOTG14013 2013–17 funded by the Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, administered by the Cotton Research and Development Corporation and supported by New South Wales Department of Primary industries (NSW DPI). Thanks to Ross Burnett, Ray Fox and Rod Smith for providing the experimental sites and applying the nitrogen fertiliser treatments. Thanks to Amanda Noone, Brooke Cutler, Pete Perfrement, Tim Grant and Wayne McPherson for field assistance. All soil and plant N analyses were carried out by Clarence Mercer in the ISO9001-accredited laboratory at Tamworth Agricultural Institute, NSW DPI.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. NSW Department of Primary Industries, 4 Marsden Park Road, Tamworth, NSW, 2340, Australia

    G. D. Schwenke & A. McPherson

Authors
  1. G. D. Schwenke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. McPherson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to G. D. Schwenke.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 570 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Schwenke, G.D., McPherson, A. Banded urea placement did not affect nitrous oxide emission from furrow-irrigated Vertisols. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 122, 1–12 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-021-10177-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-021-10177-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation