The interaction of seasonal rainfall and nitrogen fertiliser rate on soil N2O emission, total N loss and crop yield of dryland sorghum and sunflower grown on sub-tropical Vertosols
G. D. Schwenke A B and B. M. Haigh A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A NSW Department of Primary Industries, Tamworth Agricultural Institute, Tamworth, NSW 2340, Australia.
B Corresponding author. Email: graeme.schwenke@dpi.nsw.gov.au
Soil Research 54(5) 604-618 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR15286
Submitted: 6 October 2015 Accepted: 14 March 2016 Published: 27 June 2016
Journal Compilation © CSIRO Publishing 2016 Open Access CC BY-NC-ND
Abstract
Summer crop production on slow-draining Vertosols in a sub-tropical climate has the potential for large emissions of soil nitrous oxide (N2O) from denitrification of applied nitrogen (N) fertiliser. While it is well established that applying N fertiliser will increase N2O emissions above background levels, previous research in temperate climates has shown that increasing N fertiliser rates can increase N2O emissions linearly, exponentially or not at all. Little such data exists for summer cropping in sub-tropical regions. In four field experiments at two locations across two summers, we assessed the impact of increasing N fertiliser rate on both soil N2O emissions and crop yield of grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) or sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) in Vertosols of sub-tropical Australia. Rates of N fertiliser, applied as urea at sowing, included a nil application, an optimum N rate and a double-optimum rate.
Daily N2O fluxes ranged from –3.8 to 2734 g N2O-N ha–1 day–1 and cumulative N2O emissions ranged from 96 to 6659 g N2O-N ha–1 during crop growth. Emissions of N2O increased with increased N fertiliser rates at all experimental sites, but the rate of N loss was five times greater in wetter-than-average seasons than in drier conditions. For two of the four experiments, periods of intense rainfall resulted in N2O emission factors (EF, percent of applied N emitted) in the range of 1.2–3.2%. In contrast, the EFs for the two drier experiments were 0.41–0.56% with no effect of N fertiliser rate.
Additional 15N mini-plots aimed to determine whether N fertiliser rate affected total N lost from the soil–plant system between sowing and harvest. Total 15N unaccounted was in the range of 28–45% of applied N and was presumed to be emitted as N2O + N2. At the drier site, the ratio of N2 (estimated by difference) to N2O (measured) lost was a constant 43%, whereas the ratio declined from 29% to 12% with increased N fertiliser rate for the wetter experiment.
Choosing an N fertiliser rate aimed at optimum crop production mitigates potentially high environmental (N2O) and agronomic (N2 + N2O) gaseous N losses from over-application, particularly in seasons with high intensity rainfall occurring soon after fertiliser application.
Additional keywords: denitrification, N2O emission factor, N2O emission intensity.
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