Nitrogen leaching from sheep-, cattle- and deer-grazed pastures in the Lake Taupo catchment in New Zealand
C. J. Hoogendoorn A C , K. Betteridge A , S. F. Ledgard B , D. A. Costall A , Z. A. Park A and P. W. Theobald A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A AgResearch Grasslands, Private Bag 11008, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand.
B AgResearch Ruakura Research Centre, Private Bag 3123, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand.
C Corresponding author. Email: coby.hoogendoorn@agresearch.co.nz
Animal Production Science 51(5) 416-425 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN10179
Submitted: 17 September 2010 Accepted: 21 February 2011 Published: 5 May 2011
Abstract
A replicated grazing study measuring nitrogen (N) leaching from cattle-, sheep- and deer-grazed pastures was conducted to investigate the impact of different animal species on N leaching in the Lake Taupo catchment in New Zealand. Leaching losses of nitrate N from intensively grazed pastures on a highly porous pumice soil in the catchment averaged 37, 26 and 25 kg N/ha.year for cattle-, sheep- and deer-grazed areas, respectively, over the 3-year study and were not significantly different (P > 0.05). Leaching losses of ammonium N were much lower (3 kg N/ha.year for all three species of grazer; P > 0.05). Amounts of dissolved organic N leached were significantly higher than that of mineral N (nitrate N + ammonium N), and over the 3-year study averaged 44, 43 and 39 kg N/ha.year for cattle-, sheep- and deer-grazed areas, respectively (P > 0.05). On a stock unit equivalence basis (1 stock unit is equivalent to 550 kg DM consumed/year), cattle-grazed areas leached significantly more mineral N than sheep- or deer-grazed areas (5.5, 2.9 and 3.4 g mineral N leached/24 h grazing by 1 stock unit, for cattle, sheep and deer, respectively) (P < 0.001). Likewise, based on the amount of N apparently consumed (estimated by difference in mass of herbage N pre- and post-grazing), cattle-grazed pastures leached more mineral N than sheep- or deer-grazed pastures (123, 75 and 75 g mineral N/kg N apparently consumed for cattle, sheep and deer, respectively) (P < 0.01). This study gives valuable information on mineral N leaching in a high-rainfall environment on this free-draining pumice soil, and provides new data to assist in developing strategies to mitigate mineral N leaching losses from grazed pastures using different animal species.
Additional keywords: ammonium N, dissolved organic N, nitrate N.
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