Ammonia volatilization loss from surface applied livestock manure

Abstract

Ammonia (NH₃) emission from livestock manures used in agriculture reduces N uptake by crops and negatively impacts air quality. This laboratory study was conducted to evaluate NH₃emission from different livestock manures applied to two soils: Candler fins sand (CFS; light-textured soil, pH 6.8 and field capacity soil water content of 70 g kg^{− 1}) from Lake Alfred, Florida and Ogeechee loamy sand (OLS; medium-textured soil, pH 5.2 and field capacity soil water content of 140 g kg^{− 1}) from Savannah, Georgia. Poultry litter (PL) collected from a poultry farm near Douglas, Georgia, and fresh solid separate of swine manure (SM) collected from a farm near Clinton, North Carolina were used. Each of the soil was weighed in 100 g sub samples and amended with either PL or SM at rates equivalent to either 0, 2.24, 5.60, 11.20, or 22.40 Mg ha^{− 1} in 1L Mason jars and incubated in the laboratory at field capacity soil water content for 19 days to monitor NH₃ volatilization. Results indicated a greater NH₃ loss from soils amended with SM compared to that with PL. The cumulative NH₃volatilization loss over 19 days ranged from 4 to 27% and 14 to 32% of total N applied as PL and SM, respectively. Volatilization of NH₃ was greater from light-textured CFS than that from medium-textured OLS. Volatilization loss increased with increasing rates of manure application. Ammonia volatilization was lower at night time than that during the day time. Differences in major factors such as soil water content, temperature, soil type and live stock manure type influenced the diurnal variation in volatilization loss of NH₃ from soils. A significant portion (> 50%) of cumulative NH₃ emission over 19 d occurred during the first 5–7 d following the application of livestock manures. Results of this study demonstrate that application of low rates of livestock manure (≤ 5.60 Mg ha^{− 1}) is recommended to minimize NH₃ emissions.

Keywords:

• Ammonia volatilization
• diurnal pattern
• livestock manure
• poultry litter
• soil type
• swine manure

Acknowledgments

Authors appreciate the financial support for this study through Peach State Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (PSLSAMP) and Minority Access to Graduate Education and Careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (MAGEC-STEM) programs supported by the National Science Foundation. We appreciate the assistance of Drs. Kenneth Sajwan, Ariel Szogi, and Yogasundaram for supplying livestock manures and Mr. William Boge for NH₄-N analysis through FIA.

Notes

¹Elemental compositions were determined by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrophotometery (ICP-OES) following on acid-digestion of the amendments and the soils.

²Collected from a commercial farm in Douglas, Georgia, USA.

³Collected from a commercial farm near Clinton, North Carolina, USA.

⁴Collected from Polk County, Lake Alfred, Florida, USA. (CFS - Candler fine sand).

⁵Collected from Chatham County, Savannah, Georgia, USA. (OLS - Ogeechee loamy sand). nd: non-detectable amount.

^† Mean of three replicates. Means followed by similar letters within a column indicate no significant difference at P = 0.05.