Abstract
A 15-day bench-scale manure storage experiment with a slurry mixture comprising beef cattle feces and synthetic urine with 15N-labeled urea was conducted to evaluate the source of volatilized ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N). Beef cattle feces was mixed daily in a 1:2.2 mass ratio with 15N-labeled urine and added for four consecutive days to 2-L storage containers and then left undisturbed for eleven days. Isotope ratio mass spectrometry was used to determine the origin of aerial NH3-N losses from the relative isotopic abundance of N in the 15N-labeled slurry mixture. On average 84% of total NH3-N losses originated from the urine portion and were highest during the first two to four days, when fresh material was added. After fresh material addition ceased, daily NH3-N emission from the urine decreased gradually, whereas emission from the feces remained relatively constant. Calculations showed that over 34% of aerial N was not captured, suggesting that other N gas emission is significant from slurry mixtures. Likely all uncaptured N losses were from urinary urea. The study verified the applicability of 15N-labeled synthetic urine for beef slurry mixtures. However, the results suggest further research to explain and model the NH3 and N release from fecal material is warranted and to determine the identity of the uncaptured N losses.
Highlights
Nitrogen (N) losses from manure can occur through runoff, leaching or emission and represent valuable nutrient losses for agricultural applications and potential harm to the environment
Ammonium-N losses were highest between day 2 and 4 (Figure 2)
After day 4, which coincided with the end of material addition, NH3-N emission gradually decreased until the end of the 15-day monitoring period
Summary
Nitrogen (N) losses from manure can occur through runoff, leaching or emission and represent valuable nutrient losses for agricultural applications and potential harm to the environment. Ammonia emission can form light-scattering aerosol particles that may impair visibility and form respirable aerosol particles that are a health concern [3]. The 15N labeling method has been used to track N in dairy cows from feed intake to manure excretion [4] and cycling of manure N in crop systems [5,6]. Few studies have been conducted that discuss labeled N movements through manure management systems [9,10] and have focused on compost [11,12,13] and anaerobic systems [14,15]
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