Rangeland Ecology & Management

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Macronutrients in soil and bromegrass after long-term N fertilization
Author
Harapiak, J. T.
Malhi, S. S.
Gill, K. S.
Flore, N.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2004-03-01
Body

Information on the long-term impact of repeated annual fertilizer applications of different nitrogen (N) sources on soil and plants is needed to develop sustainable grassland production systems. The concentration of macronutrients in the 0-5, 5-10, 10-15, 15-30, 30-60, 60-90 and 90-120 cm layers in a thin Black Chernozemic (Typic Boroll) soil and in bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss.) hay were compared after 15 annual applications of 168 and 336 kg N ha-1 as ammonium nitrate, urea, calcium nitrate, and ammonium sulphate, and a zero-N check. The concentration of NO3-N was increased by ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulphate at both N rates in most soil layers, by calcium nitrate at both N rates and by urea at 336 kg N ha-1 in the 15-60 cm soil. The accumulation of NO3-N increased with soil depth down to 60 cm, except for urea and ammonium sulphate at 168 kg N ha-1, and then it declined in deeper soil layers. The concentration of NH4-N was increased with fertilizer applications in some of the surface soil layers. The concentration of P was increased in the top 15 cm soil by ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulphate. The concentrations of Ca, Mg and K in the surface soil declined with most of the N fertilizer treatments while some treatments increased the Ca and Mg concentrations in the deeper soil layers. Increasing the N rate from 168 to 336 kg N ha-1 usually accentuated the above stated N effects on the concentration of macronutrients in the soil. The nitrate-based fertilizers caused more accumulation of NO3-N in some soil layers than the ammonium-based fertilizers. The relative increase in the concentration of NH4-N and P and the decline in the concentration of Ca, Mg and K in the soil by N addition was usually associated with the concomitant lowering of soil pH by N fertilization. In bromegrass hay, the total N concentration was increased by N fertilization but the concentration of other elements, except K, usually declined because of the dilution effect of the extra hay yield associated with N addition. Increasing the N rate from 168 to 336 kg N ha-1 further elevated the total N concentration but had no effect on the concentration of the other elements. Total N concentration in the hay tended to be greater with ammonium sulphate and ammonium nitrate than with the other 2 fertilizers. The concentration of total S was greater with ammonium sulphate than the other N fertilizers, and the concentration of P, Ca, Mg and K was not affected by the N fertilizer type. Fertilizer-induced high levels of NO3-N, NH4-N and P in soil may present potential for environmental pollution at these high N rates. The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information. Migrated from OJS platform August 2020

Language
en
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Journal Issue/Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.2111/1551-5028(2004)057[0219:MISABA]2.0.CO;2
Additional Information
Harapiak, J. T., Malhi, S. S., Gill, K. S., & Flore, N. (2004). Macronutrients in soil and bromegrass after long-term N fertilization. Journal of Range Management, 57(2), 219-225.
IISN
0022-409X
OAI Identifier
oai:repository.arizona.edu:10150/643525
Journal Volume
57
Journal Number
2
Journal Pages
219-225
Journal Name
Journal of Range Management
Keywords
concentration
forage
N source
rate of N