Abstract
The effect of topsoil moisture content at the time of nitrogen fertilization and distribution of precipitation following N fertilization on volatile loss of surfaceapplied fertilizer N was studied in two greenhouse experiments using15N-labeled fertilizers. Loss of applied NO -3 -N was small compared with loss of urea-N and diammonium phosphate (DAP)-N; this suggests that NH3 volatilization was the major pathway of N loss for urea and DAP. Loss of applied NO -3 -N averaged less than 6% of that applied regardless of initial topsoil moisture or amount of precipitation. Increased initial topsoil moisture content increased losses of urea-N greatly but losses of DAP-N only slightly. Increasing depths of precipitation, added five days after N fertilization, greatly decreased loss of urea-N but had no effect on the loss of DAP-N. Variations in moisture and precipitation treatments caused losses of urea-N to vary from 40 to 6% of that applied in a slightly acidic silty loam and from 26 to 11% in a calcareous clay. Moisture and precipitation treatments caused volatilization of DAP-N to vary from 20 to 10% in the silty loam and from 40 to 27% in the calcareous clay. In a second experiment, moisture and precipitation conditions affected N loss from urea as in the previous experiment. Addition of phenylphosphorodiamidate (PPDA), a known urease inhibitor, to urea at 20 g kg−1 resulted in only a small reduction of N loss in the calcareous clay soil used.
It was concluded that soil moisture at the time of N fertilization and precipitation following N fertilization can greatly affect volatile loss of fertilizer N. Since the effect of moisture on N loss is not the same for all N sources, moisture parameters are expected to affect the ranking of N sources by their susceptibility to N loss and their uptake by plants in field experiments. Results obtained suggest some management practices by which fertilizer N might be conserved. The great effect of moisture and precipitation on N loss in these studies underscores the need for detailed meteorological records for field sites of N trials.
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Stumpe, J., Monem, M.A. Greenhouse evaluation of the effect of topsoil moisture and simulated rainfall on the volatilization of nitrogen from surfaceapplied urea, diammonium phosphate, and potassium nitrate. Fertilizer Research 9, 229–239 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01050349
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01050349