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15N recoveries from ruminant urine patches on three forage types

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Abstract

Background and aims

15Nitrogen balances are useful tools to increase our understanding of soil N processes and the efficiency of plants in taking up animal urine-N. This study aimed to investigate the effect of forage type on the fate of autumn-applied urine-N (700 kg N ha−1).

Methods

In a 17-month lysimeter study the recoveries of 15N in herbage, leachate, nitrous oxide, and soil + roots (at the end of the trial) were determined for three forage types: perennial ryegrass-white clover (RGWC, Lolium perenne L.-Trifolium repens L.), Italian ryegrass (Italian RG, Lolium multiflorum Lam.), and lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) under simulated autumn grazing.

Results

We recovered 81.5–85.5% of the 15N applied in the urine. Italian RG had the greatest amount of urine-15N recovered in the herbage (49.5%) and the least recovered in leachate (16.8%) making it the most efficient of the three forages for utilizing urine-N. For RGWC, herbage and leachate recoveries were 40.1% and 23.7%, respectively. Lucerne was the least efficient with recoveries of 15N in herbage and leachate equaling 18.4% and 52.5%, respectively.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates that Italian ryegrass could offer benefits in reducing urine-N leaching losses through its ability to take up more urine-N over winter.

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Acknowledgements

This research was completed as part of the Forages for Reduced Nitrate Leaching programme with principal funding from the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and DairyNZ. The programme is a partnership between DairyNZ, AgResearch, Plant & Food Research, Lincoln University, Foundation for Arable Research, and Landcare Research. Funding for the lead author was also received through the William Machin Doctoral Scholarship. The authors wish to thank Trevor Hendry, Roger Atkinson, Jeneth Hendry, Shelagh Bassett, Chris Abraham, Nigel Beale, Roger Cresswell, Vicky Zhang, Barry Anderson, Manjula Premaratne (Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Lincoln University) for valuable technical assistance, Dave Saville for advice and guidance with statistical analysis, and Ina Pinxterhuis and Tony Petch for comments on the manuscript draft.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Soil and Physical Sciences, Lincoln University, PO Box 85084, Lincoln, Canterbury, 7647, New Zealand

    R. R. Woods, K. C. Cameron, H. J. Di & T. J. Clough

  2. Department of Agricultural Sciences, Lincoln University, PO Box 85084, Lincoln, Canterbury, 7647, New Zealand

    G. R. Edwards

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  1. R. R. Woods
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  2. K. C. Cameron
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  3. G. R. Edwards
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  4. H. J. Di
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  5. T. J. Clough
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Correspondence to R. R. Woods.

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Woods, R.R., Cameron, K.C., Edwards, G.R. et al. 15N recoveries from ruminant urine patches on three forage types. Plant Soil 417, 453–465 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-017-3270-5

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