Ammonia volatilization from arable land after application of cattle slurry. 1. Field estimates

Cattle slurry was surface-applied to bare soil in two experiments in September-November 1987, while in April-May 1988 two experiments were carried out in which the slurry was mixed with the upper 6 cm of the soil with a cultivator immediately after spreading. The 1987 experiments both lasted 18 days, the 1988 experiments 9 days. A micrometeorological technique, which did not disturb the dynamics of the air flow, was used to measure NH3 volatilization. Volatilization losses were also determined indirectly from mineral-N contents of soil-slurry samples collected at intervals after application. Diurnal fluctuations in the NH3 flux occurred throughout the experimental period, with maxima around midday and minima at midnight. The magnitude of the daily flux values decreased with time. The amounts of N lost through volatilization from surface-applied cattle slurry were 18 and 33% of the total N, resp., during the first 9 days, corresponding to 32 and 67% of the ammoniacal N applied with the slurry. Volatilization was negligible after day 9. Incorporation of the slurry into the soil considerably decreased the loss of N through volatilization: volatile losses of N after 9 days amounted to 6 and 7% of the total N, which corresponds to 11 and 16% of the ammoniacal N applied with the slurry. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission)