Nitrous oxide emissions during storage of broiler litter and following application to arable land

Abstract

Sheeting manure stores and rapid incorporation following manure spreading have been recognised as successful techniques to reduce ammonia (NH 3) emissions. The reduced NH 3 loss, however, conserves nitrogen, which may subsequently be emitted from the soil as nitrous oxide (N 2O). Emissions of N 2O were monitored at two UK sites (central and southwest England) during broiler litter storage and after its application to arable land. At both sites, there was no significant ( P > 0.05) effect on N 2O emissions of sheeting the manure stores compared to conventional storage, implying that sheeting may not only reduce NH 3 emissions, but also has no adverse effect on N 2O losses. Following land spreading, there was also no significant ( P > 0.05) influence of storage technique on N 2O emissions. To fully take advantage of the reduced NH 3 loss from sheeting, rapid incorporation of manure is required after land application. The effect of incorporation on N 2O loss was, however, inconsistent. In the warm and wet southwest, incorporation reduced N 2O emissions ( P < 0.05), but at the cooler and drier central site, N 2O losses increased ( P < 0.01), suggesting that rapid incorporation can only reduce both N 2O and NH 3 losses under site-specific conditions.