Maria Karoline de Carvalho Rodrigues de Sousa, Luciano Cavalcante Muniz, Valéria Xavier de Oliveira Apolinário, Joaquim Bezerra Costa, Ana María Herrera-Angulo, José Carlos Batista Dubeux, Victor Roberto Ribeiro Reis, Thaís Santos Figueiredo, Raabe Alves Souza, Erika Gonçalves Corrêa, Janerson José Coelho
{"title":"Nitrogen fertilization increased grass litter decomposition in a tropical agroforestry system","authors":"Maria Karoline de Carvalho Rodrigues de Sousa, Luciano Cavalcante Muniz, Valéria Xavier de Oliveira Apolinário, Joaquim Bezerra Costa, Ana María Herrera-Angulo, José Carlos Batista Dubeux, Victor Roberto Ribeiro Reis, Thaís Santos Figueiredo, Raabe Alves Souza, Erika Gonçalves Corrêa, Janerson José Coelho","doi":"10.1007/s10457-024-00968-x","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Litter decomposition and livestock excreta are two important sources for replenishing nutrients in the soil of the pastures, and their decomposition rates are affected by their quality, management practices, forage productivity, and biotic and abiotic factors. The objective of this research was to assess the effects of escalating levels of N fertilization (0, 100, 200, and 400 kg N ha<sup>−1</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup>) on litter and fecal decomposition in an agroforestry system comprising palisadegrass [<i>Urochloa brizantha</i> (Hochst. Ex A. Rich.) Stapf. cv. Marandu] intercropped with hybrid eucalyptus trees [<i>Eucalyptus urophylla</i> × <i>Eucalyptus tereticornis</i>], in a two-year field trial. The experiment was set in a randomized complete block design with four treatments and three repetitions. Litter (0, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, and 256 days) and cattle excrement samples (0, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, and 128 days) were incubated on the ground. For forage litter samples, the interaction between N fertilization × year was observed for the decomposition rate (<i>k</i>) of DM (<i>P</i> = 0.0014) and OM (<i>P</i> = 0.0094). The greatest litter OM disappearance was observed at 400 kg N fertilization ha<sup>−1</sup> year<sup>−1</sup> (651 g kg<sup>−1</sup> DM at 256 days). The interaction between nitrogen fertilizer rate × incubation time, or the isolated effect of the treatment was not observed on fecal decomposition (<i>P</i> > 0.05). Higher levels of N fertilization associated with the rainy period resulted in faster decomposition of palisadegrass litter, however, it did not show to have a strong influence on the excreta decomposition in this agroforestry system.</p>","PeriodicalId":7610,"journal":{"name":"Agroforestry Systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Agroforestry Systems","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-024-00968-x","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"AGRONOMY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Litter decomposition and livestock excreta are two important sources for replenishing nutrients in the soil of the pastures, and their decomposition rates are affected by their quality, management practices, forage productivity, and biotic and abiotic factors. The objective of this research was to assess the effects of escalating levels of N fertilization (0, 100, 200, and 400 kg N ha−1 yr−1) on litter and fecal decomposition in an agroforestry system comprising palisadegrass [Urochloa brizantha (Hochst. Ex A. Rich.) Stapf. cv. Marandu] intercropped with hybrid eucalyptus trees [Eucalyptus urophylla × Eucalyptus tereticornis], in a two-year field trial. The experiment was set in a randomized complete block design with four treatments and three repetitions. Litter (0, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, and 256 days) and cattle excrement samples (0, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, and 128 days) were incubated on the ground. For forage litter samples, the interaction between N fertilization × year was observed for the decomposition rate (k) of DM (P = 0.0014) and OM (P = 0.0094). The greatest litter OM disappearance was observed at 400 kg N fertilization ha−1 year−1 (651 g kg−1 DM at 256 days). The interaction between nitrogen fertilizer rate × incubation time, or the isolated effect of the treatment was not observed on fecal decomposition (P > 0.05). Higher levels of N fertilization associated with the rainy period resulted in faster decomposition of palisadegrass litter, however, it did not show to have a strong influence on the excreta decomposition in this agroforestry system.
期刊介绍:
Agroforestry Systems is an international scientific journal that publishes results of novel, high impact original research, critical reviews and short communications on any aspect of agroforestry. The journal particularly encourages contributions that demonstrate the role of agroforestry in providing commodity as well non-commodity benefits such as ecosystem services. Papers dealing with both biophysical and socioeconomic aspects are welcome. These include results of investigations of a fundamental or applied nature dealing with integrated systems involving trees and crops and/or livestock. Manuscripts that are purely descriptive in nature or confirmatory in nature of well-established findings, and with limited international scope are discouraged. To be acceptable for publication, the information presented must be relevant to a context wider than the specific location where the study was undertaken, and provide new insight or make a significant contribution to the agroforestry knowledge base