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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 45(7)

Can soil amendments (zeolite or lime) shift the balance between nitrous oxide and dinitrogen emissions from pasture and wetland soils receiving urine or urea-N?

M. Zaman A E , M. L. Nguyen B , F. Matheson C , J. D. Blennerhassett A and B. F. Quin D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Summit Quinphos, PO Box 24-020, Royal Oak, Auckland, New Zealand.

B Soil and Water Management & Crop Nutrition, Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food & Agriculture, PO Box 100, A-1400 Vienna, Austria.

C National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Ltd, Gate 10, Silverdale Road, PO Box 111-15, Hamilton, New Zealand.

D Quin Environmentals (NZ) Ltd, PO Box 125-122, St Heliers, Auckland, New Zealand.

E Corresponding author. Email: zamanm_99@yahoo.com

Australian Journal of Soil Research 45(7) 543-553 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR07034
Submitted: 7 March 2007  Accepted: 21 September 2007   Published: 12 November 2007

Abstract

To determine the effects of soil amendments (lime or ammonium-sorbed zeolite) on emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) and dinitrogen (N2) gases from pasture and wetland soils, a 90-day incubation experiment was conducted under controlled moisture and temperature conditions. Soil samples (0–0.10 m soil depth) collected from pasture and adjacent wetland sites were treated with 2 nitrogen (N) sources (cow urine or urea) at 200 kg N/ha with and without added soil amendments using 10-L plastic containers and then incubated at 25°C. Subsoil samples were taken out at different intervals to measure gaseous emissions of N2O and N2 using the acetylene (C2H2) inhibition method, ammonium (NH4+), nitrate (NO3–), soluble organic C, and pH. The anaerobic conditions (81% water-filled pore space) in wetland soils precluded nitrification, and therefore no increase in NO3–, N2O, or N2 was observed during the 90-day incubation period. In the pasture soil, the application of urine, urea, and soil amendments significantly affected daily and total N2O and N2 emissions and their ratios over a 90-day incubation period. Total N2O emission from urea-treated soil (48 kg N2O-N/ha) was significantly higher than from urine-treated soil (39 kg N2O-N/ha) and the control soil (4.5 kg N2O-N/ha). The application of zeolite significantly reduced N2O emissions from urea and urine-treated soils by 45% and 33%, respectively, due to the sorption of NH4+ by zeolite. Liming had minor effect on N2O emission. However, when lime was applied with zeolite, a significant reduction in N2O emission was observed. Lime application alone was found to increase N2 emissions in urine and urea treated soils by 46% and 35%, respectively, and thereby lower N2O : N2 ratios. The results indicate that zeolite reduced N2O emission while lime increased N2 emissions and lowered N2O : N2 ratios, and warranting further attention for mitigation of N2O.

Additional keywords: N2O : N2, urine, urea, lime, zeolite, pasture, wetland, N2O : N2 ratio, mitigation.


Acknowledgments

We thank Summit Quinphos (NZ) Ltd, NIWA, and the New Zealand Foundation for Research Science and Technology (FRST) for funding this project. The FRST funding came under C01X0010 programme: ‘Effects of changes in land use on water quality and quantity’. We are also grateful to James Sukias, Kerry Costley, and NIWA Hamilton laboratory staff and Sajjad Ali and Sohail (Waikato University) for their help in laboratory work.


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