Nitrogen dynamics in soils amended with slurry treated by acid or DMPP addition

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The objective of the present study was to evaluate the impact of the treatment of slurry liquid fraction (LF) acidified to pH 5.5 (ALF) on nitrification and denitrification processes after soil application. The impact of such treatment was compared with that of untreated LF, LF treated with a nitrification inhibitor (3,4-Dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP)) (LF + DMPP). An incubation was conducted using the denitrification incubation system (DENIS/gas-flow-core technique) at a constant temperature of 20 °C and lasted for 32 days in order to follow nitrogen dynamics and gaseous emissions (N2O, NO, CO2) from soil. Inhibition of ammonium nitrification and nitrate accumulation was evident in both LF + DMPP and ALF at the top soil (0–3.75 cm) and those effects were stronger in the LF + DMPP. Denitrification was the main source of N2O emissions from soils amended with treated and untreated LF. Compared to the untreated LF, the ALF significantly reduced the total N lost as N2O from 0.10% to 0.05% of the applied N whereas the DMPP reduced the total N lost as N2O from 0.10% to 0.07%. Relative to the untreated LF, the ALF reduced the total N lost as NO emissions from 0.03% to 0.02% of the applied N whereas DMPP addition led to a stronger decrease from 0.03% to 0.01%. Both, ALF and LF + DMPP had no impact on CO2 emissions relative to the untreated LF. The ALF reduced CO2 emissions by 19% relative to the LF + DMPP. Our results demonstrate that slurry acidification affect not only nitrification but also the denitrification process. This suggests that slurry acidification is a valid technique to minimize N emissions.