Offered Papers Theme B: Grassland and the Environment
Description
Pastures have been implicated in ground water contamination by nitrate, especially in humid regions with thin or sandy soils (Stout et al., 2000). Significant losses can occur even under low N input, because available N from excreta patches often exceeds plant uptake capacity. Lack of evidence that appreciable nitrate leaching was occurring in established Midwestern USA pastures led us to test the hypothesis that denitrification was preventing or remediating nitrate loading. Higher denitrification rates have been found in the relatively limited number of trials since Ball & Ryden (1984) first reported the significance of this process in pastures.
Citation
Russelle, M. P.; Browne, B. A.; Turyk, N. B.; and Pearson, B., "Denitrification Under Pastures on Permeable Soils Helps Protect Ground Water Quality" (2023). IGC Proceedings (1993-2023). 133.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/20/themeB/133
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Denitrification Under Pastures on Permeable Soils Helps Protect Ground Water Quality
Pastures have been implicated in ground water contamination by nitrate, especially in humid regions with thin or sandy soils (Stout et al., 2000). Significant losses can occur even under low N input, because available N from excreta patches often exceeds plant uptake capacity. Lack of evidence that appreciable nitrate leaching was occurring in established Midwestern USA pastures led us to test the hypothesis that denitrification was preventing or remediating nitrate loading. Higher denitrification rates have been found in the relatively limited number of trials since Ball & Ryden (1984) first reported the significance of this process in pastures.
