Progress 10/31/16 to 10/24/21
Outputs
PROGRESS REPORT Objectives (from AD-416): 1. Assess the environmental impacts of crop management practices that have the potential to improve soil health and decrease greenhouse gas emissions in the Upper Midwest. a. Develop a perennialized row crop system that reduces the environmental footprint of agriculture and improves its resilience, without adverse impacts on water usage and profitability. b. Develop new knowledge regarding soil nitrogen cycling and nitric and nitrous oxide production mechanisms. c. Develop new knowledge of chemical triggering compounds of microbial activity. 2. Increase nutrient use efficiency and reduce nutrient losses to leaching, runoff and atmospheric emissions in Upper Midwest cropping systems. a. Develop improved methods to quantify and to reduce losses of reactive N gases from fertilized cropping systems. b. Evaluate manure management practices for improvement of nutrient cycling and reduction of reactive nitrogen losses on large dairies. Approach (from AD-416): All the objectives of this project have a common focus on quantifying the impacts of management practices, including crop rotation/cover crops, irrigation, and synthetic N fertilizer or manure amendments, on GHG emissions and nutrient availability for crop uptake or susceptibility to loss to the environment. The different objectives complement each other in several ways. In order to gain insights from multiple perspectives, the methods for each objective range across scales, including large field and larger plot studies (sub-objective 1a); replicated small-plots (2a); soil column mesocosms (2b); and laboratory microcosms (1b, 1c). The same set of soil types representing a range of Minnesota agricultural soils from across the state, including soil from both field experiments (1a and 2a), will be used in the microcosm and mesocosm experiments (1b, 1c and 2b). Thus, results from the three laboratory experiments each of which have different primary objectives, will inform and help to interpret results of the other lab studies; and results from the lab experiments under more controlled conditions will inform results of the field experiments that are subject to dynamic climate conditions. Both of the field experiments (1a and 2a) will measure greenhouse gas emissions and ammonia volatilization losses from cropping systems under similar soil types (the same soil series) but with different management regimes, which may also allow for cross-site comparison of results. This research also complements efforts within several national projects and initiatives, including the Greenhouse Gas Reduction through Agricultural Carbon Enhancement (GRACEnet), Resilient Economic Agricultural Practices (REAP), Dairy Agro-ecosystem Working Group (DAWG) and Long-Term Agricultural Research (LTAR) networks; and as such will involve collaboration with several colleagues from other ARS locations, universities and other organizations. Subobjective 1a. We have tested and refined a companion cropping system in which corn and soybeans can be repeatedly planted into a perennial ground cover of kura clover. A novel rotary zone tillage unit was obtained and shown to be superior to conventional strip tillage units for row establishment, and a nitrogen (N) rate study was conducted to determine optimal N fertilizer rate for corn planted into a pure kura stand and separately for corn planted into a stand that had corn planted into it the previous year. Notably, we found that when planted into a pure kura stand, no fertilizer was needed. In fiscal year 2020, an experiment was initiated to further determine best practices for initial row establishment, comparing the rotary zone tillage tool against an improved conventional strip till unit, and also against chemical row establishment with herbicide, which has been used by some practitioners. Data have been collected that demonstrate substantially higher infiltration rates in the living mulch system versus conventional corn/ soy production. These and other data have been shared with the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BOWSR), and they have ruled that the living mulch system qualifies as perennial cover, which is required along all waterways in the state under the Minnesota Buffer Law. Guidance was also provided to state researchers who are testing the living mulch system for water quality protection. Subobjective 1b. The first manuscript resulting from the soil incubation experiments was revised to address reviewer comments and published. This manuscript reported the soil incubation data in the absence of a nitrification inhibitor, and compared the data to a newly formulated model, the two-step nitrification model (2SN). The 2SN model is the first soil process model to account for ammonia toxicity effects on both steps of nitrification, urea hydrolysis, pH changes, ammonium sorption, ammonia volatilization, and production of nitric oxide and nitrous oxide gases across a broad temperature range of 5 to 30 degrees C. A second manuscript was prepared which reported the corresponding soil incubation data in the presence of the nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide (DCD). This manuscript reported further developments to the 2SN model which account for the inhibitory effects of DCD on the first step of nitrification (ammonia oxidation) coupled to first-order DCD decomposition across the same temperature range. The analysis also indicated that DCD had at least two unintended consequences on soil nitrogen cycling; increased ammonia volatilization, which is a negative consequence because it increases nitrogen losses to the environment, and increased nitrite oxidation, which is a positive consequence because it suppresses nitrite accumulation which can promote nitric and nitrous oxide gas production. Across the lifetime of the project, this subobjective provided comprehensive datasets comprising measurements of several chemical species in multiple soils at five temperatures with and without a nitrification inhibitor combined with new model development. The results provide new insights into soil nitrogen cycling that can help explain field-level observations, and a new modeling framework that can be further developed and integrated with other larger systems models. Subobjective 1c. The laboratory incubations showed that the fingerprint of microbially-produced volatile organic compounds (mVOCs) is related to the residue type undergoing decomposition and that the number of identifiable mVOCs increase with the complexity of the substrate and with soil microbial biomass diversity. The data also showed that the distribution of mVOCs is altered by the presence of biochar and its sorption capacity as well as the release of biochar-specific organic compounds during the incubation. While inconsistencies remain in the ability to forecast the impact of biochar on soil mineralization processes using chemical species fingerprinting, the data suggest the soil microbial pool could be affected by biochar⿿s release and/or sorption of microbial signaling compounds. This includes biochar⿿s interaction with water vapor, which could reduce microbial mineralization due to the desiccation-signaling that a reduced water vapor concentration would trigger. The data also showed that biochar⿿s ability to sorb compounds is altered by oxidation during its exposure to the soil environment which could affected material⿿s sorption capacity either positively or negatively. To support these analysis, customized R-scripts were developed which can evaluate mass spectra data utilizing the online PubChem database (https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). These scripts allow more complete compound identification beyond the standard (Agilent ChemStation NIST) library and permit evaluation of the spectral fitting using more sophisticated diagnostic algorithms (i.e., H-bond Acceptor Count, 3-D Feature Count, and Structural Complexity Score). A stable isotope mass spectrometer (IRMS) was also installed within the St. Paul, Minnesota ARS unit which will be used for improved tracing of carbon cycling, which is particularly envisioned to aid Long-Term Agroecosystem (LTAR) research efforts, and more generally to improve mechanistic-level research for nitrogen cycling. Sub-objective 2a. The final year of the project involved completing the analysis of the data collected during the previous two years of field experimentation and preparing these data for publication. The last two years of data included a total of six site-years of data: two site-years each for irrigated corn and potato production in a loamy sand soil in Becker, Minnesota, and two site-years of non-irrigated corn production in a silt loam soil in St. Paul, Minnesota. During each site-year, the effects of contrasting nitrogen fertilizer management strategies on crop performance and nitrogen losses in the form of nitrous oxide gas emissions and nitrate leaching below the root zone which were measured using flux chambers and porous cup lysimeters, respectively, in replicated plot studies. The nitrogen management strategies evaluated included conventional fertilizer (urea and ammonium) by itself which was compared to the co-application of conventional fertilizer together with different types of amendments, alone or in combination. The amendments included different types of microbial inhibitors and microbial stimulants designed to reduce N losses to the environment and/or enhance crop N uptake. For purposes of analysis and reporting, the data were divided by crop, so that the two site-years of data from the potato system were analyzed separately from the four site-years of data from the corn systems. The potato data were submitted for peer-review and accepted for publication during fiscal year 2021. The results showed that use of a recently developed nitrification inhibitor (DMPSA), which is designed to be more stable in soil than other available nitrification inhibitors, consistently reduced nitrous oxide emissions by at least 40%. Moreover, when DMPSA was combined with the urease inhibitor NBPT, nitrous oxide emissions were reduced by more than 60% and nitrate leaching was also reduced by 25% compared to conventional fertilizer. Analysis of the data from the corn systems is still underway, but some important findings have emerged. Similar to the potato system, nitrous oxide emissions were reduced with the DMPSA+NBPT combination in one of two years. In the rainfed corn, all the amendments examined, except NBPT by itself, reduced nitrous oxide emissions compared with conventional fertilizer. Subobjective 2b. One manuscript describing the column leaching experiment is being re-submitted for peer-review. A second manuscript, which reports nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) losses from manure and non-manure sources across a range of soils, is also being prepared for submission for peer- review. In related research on release of nutrients (N and P) from dairy manure under snowmelt conditions, another year of data was collected at collaborator⿿s sites in Minnesota and Wisconsin and added to a larger body of data that is being analyzed for future submission and publication. Collaborators include an ARS scientist in Marshfield, Wisconsin, and partners at the University of Minnesota and University of Wisconsin. Over the course of the project, laboratory experiments measured the amounts of P leached when undisturbed columns containing topsoil (15-cm depth) varying in texture (sandy loam, silt loam, clay loam, and clay soils) and varying in initial soil test P (STP) values were amended with mineral P sources versus semi-solid dairy manure. Results indicated that P leaching is a substantial loss pathway, losses were greater in soils having greater initial STP values and greater preferential pathways (soils with greater clay content). Losses were also greater when leaching occurred closer to time of P application, and for mineral P versus manure sources of P. Losses were as great as 30% of applied P when leaching commenced immediately with clay soils. Leached P concentrations and loads were greatest to least for these sources: dry mineral, liquid mineral, semi- solid dairy manure. Leaching volume drove load; concentrations remained constant with volume applied. Related research on the effect of temperature on nutrient release from dairy manure to water and on the effects of placement of dairy manure within a snowpack was also conducted. Findings showed that cold temperatures do not decrease nutrient release and that nutrient release is not affected by placement within a snowpack. Laboratory extraction data can be used to estimate nutrient release from manure during snowmelt, and solid manure may release less P during snowmelt than liquid manures. Further study of soil sorption parameters is needed to improve predictive models of P leaching. Record of Any Impact of Maximized Teleworking Requirement: The increased use of virtual communication during the COVID-19 pandemic had several positive consequences including the encouragement of more frequent communication which fostered new and unplanned collaborations. One example is that Unit scientists and support staff were able to have more frequent and regular meetings than in the past, which fostered group communication. Other examples include new collaborations between St. Paul ARS scientists and outside entities, for example with the University of Manitoba (Winnipeg) and University of Saskatchewan (Saskatoon), as well as collaborations with ARS scientists at other locations, including collaborations fostered via the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) working group meetings. Virtual communication also enabled Unit scientists to participate in group discussions with National Program staff, including serving on a conference organizing committee which met weekly for several months. Additionally, Unit scientists were able to give invited presentations for both domestic and international meetings, without the need for travel. Another positive impact was that the maximized telework posture enabled scientists to analyze backlogs of data and publish peer-reviewed articles reporting those data. Also, one scientist in the unit contracted COVID-19 and suffered from ⿿long COVID for five months, one symptom of which is activity intolerance. This condition likely would have kept the scientist from commuting to their duty station and maintaining the rigors of a normal workday under non-pandemic conditions. Telework enabled the scientist to work 6 to 7 hours per day, as health permitted, thus allowing them to maintain progress as opposed to falling behind on research objectives. ACCOMPLISHMENTS 01 The efficacy of the nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide deteriorates with increasing temperature and varies for different nitrogen forms. Dicyandiamide (DCD) is a widely used soil amendment designed to prevent nitrogen (N) losses to the environment. When applied to soil, DCD slows down the microbial process of nitrification which converts fertilizer N into molecular forms of N that are more readily lost from the soil- plant system. However, little is known about the simultaneous effects of DCD on multiple chemical forms of N, or its effectiveness over broad temperature ranges. ARS researchers at St. Paul, Minnesota, quantified the efficacy of DCD for reducing nine different soil N metrics over a temperature range of 5 to 30 degrees C. The ability of DCD to prevent the formation of nitrate, an important water pollutant, deteriorated rapidly with increasing temperature, while the formation of other N forms, including nitrite and nitric oxide, was inhibited by DCD even at higher temperature. These results will help land managers optimize their use of DCD by accounting for its responsiveness to temperature, and thereby help to reduce N losses to the environment. 02 Current methods to measure biochar surface chemistry are inadequate to properly make optimal agricultural use of biochar. Biochar is a type of charcoal that when added to soil could help to store carbon and decrease the release of fertilizers into ground water and greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. Before biochar can be efficiently used, better characterization of its surface chemistry is needed, because surface chemistry controls many of biochar⿿s beneficial effects. ARS researchers at St. Paul, Minnesota, conducted research that compared different laboratory methods for analyzing biochar surface chemistry. The results showed that different methods gave very different results. For example, solid-state 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) had a better ability than synchrotron-based X-ray Absorption Near-Edge Structure (XANES) to differentiate aromatic carbon structure, indicating that caution must be taken when comparing studies that use different methods. The results demonstrate the need to develop standardized guidance for how to best analyze biochar chemistry, which will help scientists to more accurately determine how biochar can be managed to optimize its potential benefits to soil health and crop productivity. 03 Continuous corn silage production in dairy systems results in soil carbon loss even when manure is returned to the field at recommended rates. Maintaining greater amounts of carbon (C) in soil can help to reduce carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and is also beneficial for soil fertility, water conservation and other soil health metrics. The return of manure to soils has the potential to store C and thereby reduce the greenhouse gas footprint of dairy production systems. However, few studies have rigorously measured the different pathways of C loss from these systems over the long term. ARS researchers at St. Paul, Minnesota, made long-term (9-year) field-scale gas exchange measurements, measured soil C, and accounted for C export in dairy products. The results showed that annual application of dairy manure at recommended rates does not supply enough C to maintain soil C levels in fields where corn silage is annually removed. Inclusion of three years of alfalfa in the 9-year rotation reduced the C deficit, but still was insufficient to maintain soil C. This information highlights the need to develop more sustainable systems that can be implemented by dairy producers.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Deventer, M.J., Roman, T., Bogoev, I., Kolka, R.K., Erickson, M., Lee, X., Baker, J.M., Millet, D.B., Griffis, T.J. 2021. Biases in open-path carbon dioxide flux measurements: Roles of instrument surface heat exchange and analyzer temperature sensitivity. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 296. Article 108216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2020.108216.
- Griffis, T.J., Roman, D.T., Wood, J.D., Deventer, J.M., Fachin, L., Rengifo, J., del Castillo Torres, D., Lilleskov, E., Kolka, R.K., Chimner, R.A., del Aguila-Pasquel, J., Wayson, C., Hergoualc'h, K., Baker, J.M., Cadillo-Quiroz, H., Ricciuto, D.M. 2020. Hydrometeorological sensitivities of net ecosystem carbon dioxide and methane exchange of an Amazonian palm swamp peatland. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 295. Article 108167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2020.108167.
- Yu, Z., Griffis, T.J., Baker, J.M. 2021. Warming temperatures lead to reduced summer carbon sequestration in the U.S. Corn Belt. Communications Earth & Environment. 2. Article 53. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-021- 00123-9.
- Griffis, T.J., Baker, J.M. 2020. Nitrogen management and air quality in China. Nature Food. 1:597-598. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-020-00167-8.
- Solhaug, E., Roy, R., Venterea, R.T., Carter, C. 2020. The role of alanine synthesis and nitrate-induced nitric oxide production during hypoxia stress in Cucurbita pepo nectaries. The Plant Journal. 105(3):580-599. https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.15055.
- Souza, E., Rosen, C., Venterea, R.T. 2021. Co-application of DMPSA and NBPT with urea mitigates both nitrous oxide emissions and nitrate leaching during irrigated potato production. Environmental Pollution. 284. Article 117124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117124.
- Venterea, R.T., Clough, T.J., Coulter, J.A., Souza, E.F., Breuillin- Sessoms, F., Spokas, K.A., Sadowsky, M.J., Gupta, S.K., Bronson, K.F. 2021. Temperature alters dicyandiamide (DCD) efficacy for multiple reactive nitrogen species in urea-amended soils: Experiments and modeling. Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 160. Article 108341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. soilbio.2021.108341.
- Gamble, J.D., Feyereisen, G.W., Griffis, T.J., Wente, C.D., Baker, J.M. 2021. Long-term ecosystem carbon losses from silage maize-based forage cropping systems. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 306. Article 108438. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2021.108438.
- Schaefer, A., Werning, K., Hoover, N., Tschirner, U., Feyereisen, G.W., Moorman, T.B., Howe, A.C., Soupir, M.L. 2021. Impact of flow on woodchip properties and subsidence in denitrifying bioreactors. Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment. 4(1). Article e20149. https://doi.org/10.1002/ agg2.20149.
- Feyereisen, G.W., Spokas, K.A., Strock, J.S., Mulla, D.J., Ranaivoson, A.Z. , Coulter, J.A. 2020. Nitrate removal and nitrous oxide production from upflow and downflow column woodchip bioreactors. Agricultural and Environmental Letters. 5(1). Article e20024. https://doi.org/10.1002/ael2. 20024.
- Christianson, L.E., Cooke, R.A., Hay, C.H., Helmers, M.J., Feyereisen, G.W. , Ranaivoson, A.Z., McMaine, J.T., McDaniel, R., Rosen, T.R., Pluer, W.T., Schipper, L.A., Dougherty, H., Robinson, R.J., Layden, I.A., Irvine-Brown, S.M., Manca, F., Dhaese, K., Nelissen, V., Von Ahnen, M. 2021. Effectiveness of denitrifying bioreactors on water pollutant reduction from agricultural areas. Transactions of the ASABE. 64(2):641-658. https:// doi.org/10.13031/trans.14011.
- Gamiz, B., Lopez-Cabeza, R., Velarde, P., Spokas, K.A., Cox, L. 2020. Biochar changes the bioavailability and bioefficacy of the allelochemical coumarin in agricultural soils. Pest Management Science. 77(2):834-843. https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.6086.
- Munira, S., Dynes, J.J., Islam, M., Khan, F., Adesanya, T., Regier, T.Z., Spokas, K.A., Farenhorst, A. 2021. Relative proportions of organic carbon functional groups in biochars as influenced by spectral data collection and processing. Chemosphere. 283. Article 131023. https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.chemosphere.2021.131023.
- Ginakes, P., Grossman, J., Baker, J.M., Sooksa-nguan, T. 2020. Living mulch management spatially localizes nutrient cycling in organic corn production. Agriculture. 10(6). Article 243. https://doi.org/10.3390/ agriculture10060243.
- Alexander, J., Spackman, J., Wilson, M., Fernandez, F., Venterea, R.T. 2021. Capture efficiency of four chamber designs for measuring ammonia emissions. Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment. 4(3). Article e20199. https://doi.org/10.1002/agg2.20199.
- Bronson, K.F., Hunsaker, D.J., El-Shikha, D., Rockholt, S.M., Williams, C. F., Rasutis, D., Soratan, K., Venterea, R.T. 2021. Nitrous oxide emissions, N uptake, biomass, and rubber yield in N-fertilized, surface-irrigated guayule. Industrial Crops and Products. 167. Article 113561. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2021.113561.
- Trippe, K.M., Manning, V., Reardon, C.L., Klein, A.M., Weidman, C.S., Ducey, T.F., Novak, J.M., Watts, D.W., Rushmiller, H.C., Spokas, K.A., Ippolito, J.A., Johnson, M.G. 2021. Phytostabilization of acidic mine tailings with biochar, biosolids, lime, and locally-sourced microbial inoculum: Do amendment mixtures influence plant growth, tailing chemistry, and microbial composition? Applied Soil Ecology. 165. Article 103962. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2021.103962.
- Ducey, T.F., Novak, J.M., Sigua, G.C., Ippolito, J.A., Rushmiller, H.C., Watts, D.W., Trippe, K.M., Spokas, K.A., Stone, K.C., Johnson, M.G. 2021. Microbial response to designer biochar and compost treatments for mining impacted soils. Biochar. 3:299-314. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42773-021- 00093-3.
- Ippolito, J.A., Cui, L., Kammann, C., Wrage-Monnig, N., Estavillo, J.M., Fuertes-Mendizabal, T., Cayuela, M., Sigua, G.C., Novak, J.M., Spokas, K.A. , Borchard, N. 2020. Feedstock choice, pyrolysis temperature and type influence biochar characteristics: a comprehensive meta-data analysis review. Biochar. 2:421-438. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42773-020-00067-x.
- Rotz, C.A., Stout, R.C., Leytem, A.B., Feyereisen, G.W., Waldrip, H., Thoma, G., Holly, M., Bjorneberg, D.L., Baker, J.M., Vadas, P.A., Kleinman, P.J. 2021. Environmental assessment of United States dairy farms. Journal of Cleaner Production. 315. Article 128153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. jclepro.2021.128153.
- Gurung, R., Ogle, S., Breidt, J., Parton, W., Del Grosso, S.J., Zhang, T., Hartman, M., Williams, S., Venterea, R.T. 2021. Modeling nitrous oxide mitigation potential of enhanced efficiency nitrogen fertilizers from agricultural systems. Science of the Total Environment. 801. Article 149342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149342.
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Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416): 1. Assess the environmental impacts of crop management practices that have the potential to improve soil health and decrease greenhouse gas emissions in the Upper Midwest. a. Develop a perennialized row crop system that reduces the environmental footprint of agriculture and improves its resilience, without adverse impacts on water usage and profitability. b. Develop new knowledge regarding soil nitrogen cycling and nitric and nitrous oxide production mechanisms. c. Develop new knowledge of chemical triggering compounds of microbial activity. 2. Increase nutrient use efficiency and reduce nutrient losses to leaching, runoff and atmospheric emissions in Upper Midwest cropping systems. a. Develop improved methods to quantify and to reduce losses of reactive N gases from fertilized cropping systems. b. Evaluate manure management practices for improvement of nutrient cycling and reduction of reactive nitrogen losses on large dairies. Approach (from AD-416): All the objectives of this project have a common focus on quantifying the impacts of management practices, including crop rotation/cover crops, irrigation, and synthetic N fertilizer or manure amendments, on GHG emissions and nutrient availability for crop uptake or susceptibility to loss to the environment. The different objectives complement each other in several ways. In order to gain insights from multiple perspectives, the methods for each objective range across scales, including large field and larger plot studies (sub-objective 1a); replicated small-plots (2a); soil column mesocosms (2b); and laboratory microcosms (1b, 1c). The same set of soil types representing a range of Minnesota agricultural soils from across the state, including soil from both field experiments (1a and 2a), will be used in the microcosm and mesocosm experiments (1b, 1c and 2b). Thus, results from the three laboratory experiments each of which have different primary objectives, will inform and help to interpret results of the other lab studies; and results from the lab experiments under more controlled conditions will inform results of the field experiments that are subject to dynamic climate conditions. Both of the field experiments (1a and 2a) will measure greenhouse gas emissions and ammonia volatilization losses from cropping systems under similar soil types (the same soil series) but with different management regimes, which may also allow for cross-site comparison of results. This research also complements efforts within several national projects and initiatives, including the Greenhouse Gas Reduction through Agricultural Carbon Enhancement (GRACEnet), Resilient Economic Agricultural Practices (REAP), Dairy Agro-ecosystem Working Group (DAWG) and Long-Term Agricultural Research (LTAR) networks; and as such will involve collaboration with several colleagues from other ARS locations, universities and other organizations. Sub-objective 1a. We completed the two-year establishment phase of our new kura clover living mulch system (KCLM) which is also our Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) field. This effort was necessitated when our former field site was sold by the University of Minnesota. A row crop (corn) was planted into the KCLM for the first time in spring 2020. Within the field, a separate experiment was set up in which three different types of tillage equipment are being tested to determine which is the most effective for establishing corn in the KCLM. Eddy covariance data from the site, along with phenocam data, are being used in the LTAR- phenocam project, in collaboration with ARS researchers at Las Cruces, New Mexico, and other ARS locations across the country. Sub-objective 1b. Results from soil incubation experiments completed in FY19 were used as the basis for developing a detailed process model (the 2SN model) that describes both steps of nitrification, gas production, and other associated processes. A manuscript describing the 2SN model and reporting a subset of the incubation data was revised and then published in Soil Biology and Biochemistry. The remaining data that includes experiments using the nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide (DCD) were prepared in a manuscript and submitted to a peer reviewed journal. A separate set of lab experiments were conducted with collaborators from the University of Minnesota using extramural funds to evaluate the use of novel nitrification inhibitors and soil amendments including biological material designed to improve crop nitrogen use efficiency. Additional lab experiments were conducted in collaboration with colleagues in Denmark using soils from Greenland. Results from these additional experiments are being analyzed and additional follow-up experiments are being planned. Sub-objective 1c. Microbially produced volatile organic compounds (mVOC) can be used as an indicator of soil microbial processes. From the laboratory incubations completed to date, ARS scientists at Saint Paul, Minnesota, have observed a unique mVOC fingerprint that is correlated to the residue undergoing decomposition in laboratory incubations, but technical hurdles remain. One of the most significant is the vast complexity of the detected compounds (both in number and structural isomers). For most of these samples, fewer than 30% of the detected compounds were identified through the National Institute of Standards and Technology Library Search algorithm using commercially available software. Therefore, customized R-scripts were written to evaluate the collected mass spectra utilizing other online database options. The first linkage has been completed to the PubChem database (https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov). These scripts allow further compound identification and permit the evaluation of the spectral fitting by more sophisticated and diagnostic algorithms. This analysis has confirmed the number of identifiable mVOCs increased with the complexity of the substrate and with soil microbial biomass diversity. Work is currently on-going to link additional online databases that are specific to microbially produced compounds (i.e., mVOC2.0 - http://bioinformatics.charite.de/mvoc/). This linkage will permit more targeted compound identification and comparison with known species of bacteria and fungi that have been observed to produce identified compounds. A stable isotope mass spectrometer was purchased and recently installed within the Saint Paul, Minnesota, location which will be used for improved tracing of carbon cycling, which is particularly envisioned to aid LTAR research efforts, and more generally to improve mechanistic-level research for nitrogen cycling. Sub-objective 2a. The field experiment examining improved nitrogen management practices through the use of soil additives was expanded and continued using extramural funds from Eurochem Agro. The fourth year of the overall study was successfully completed at three field sites including an experiment with corn in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and two experiments in Becker, Minnesota, one with corn and one with potato. The data have been analyzed and two manuscripts are being prepared. It is expected that at least one of these manuscripts will be submitted in FY20. The study found small agronomic benefits from soil additives that were not consistent across growing seasons. However, one of the additive combinations, 3,4-Dimethylpyrazole-succinic acid and N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric acid triamide (DMPSA+NBPT), resulted in significant changes in soil nitrogen availability and reductions in the movement of nitrate below the root zone and the emission of nitrous oxide to the atmosphere. In a separate effort in collaboration with colleagues from Denmark and New Zealand, a method that uses diffusion modelling combined with statistical Monte Carlo analysis was developed to evaluate and compare the performance of different gas-flux calculation techniques used to determine fluxes of nitrous oxide and other gases from soils. The analysis was incorporated into a manuscript that was accepted for publication in the Journal of Environmental Quality. As part of this effort, a spreadsheet-based tool was developed to allow users to conduct their own analysis using site-specific inputs. In a separate effort, the effectiveness of a commercially available product containing nitrogen- producing microbes was evaluated for its impact on corn production and losses of reactive nitrogen to the environment. A field experiment using PROVEN was started in the spring 2020 and is continuing through to harvest in October. The automated flux chamber system for semi-continuous measurement of greenhouse gas fluxes is still undergoing repairs and testing. A permanent technician hired in June 2020 is reconfiguring the hardware and software components of the system and making several improvements that will be useful in coming years. Sub-objective 2b. The manuscript on the column leaching experiment to evaluate losses of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from manure and non- manure sources on a range of soils is still in the peer-review process. Additional field experiments (five site-years) were conducted that were designed to determine N and P release from snow melt following dairy manure application under, within, or atop the snow-pack. Lab analyses of samples from this experiment are being completed. The data are expected to yield separate manuscripts on the N and P losses. The experiments will also provide data for model development and extend earlier laboratory work that described nutrient release to water over expected range of temperatures in Minnesota. The work is being done in collaboration with an ARS scientist in Marshfield, Wisconsin, and a manure research/ extension expert at the University of Minnesota. Accomplishments 01 International guidelines for chamber measurement of soil N2O emissions. Chamber measurements of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from agricultural soils provide the basis for greenhouse gas budgets at site, regional, national, and global scales and for validation of emissions models. While easy to adopt, chamber methods used by researchers across the world have varied with respect to several details which can lead to challenges in comparing results between studies and assessing their uncertainty. To improve the uniformity and reliability of these protocols, an ARS scientist in Saint Paul, Minnesota, collaborated with an international team of scientists in conjunction with the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA) to develop and publish an updated set of methodological guidelines in a special section of the Journal of Environmental Quality. The guidelines address a comprehensive set of topics including chamber design and deployment, sample collection, storage and analysis, automated chambers, flux calculations, statistical analysis, emission factor estimation, reporting, modelling and backfilling approaches, and health and safety considerations, and will provide the basis for improved agricultural N2O emissions estimates gathered by researchers across the world working in both crop and livestock systems. 02 Tillage intensity and timing affect nitrogen availability in a living mulch system. Kura clover living mulch (KCLM) is a production system with several potential advantages for use in organic corn production, but optimum tillage strategies with KCLM have not been determined. ARS researchers in Saint Paul, Minnesota, evaluated four tillage regimes: no-till, strip-till, rotary zone tillage, and double-till (a combination of strip till and rotary zone tillage) in a two-year experiment in Rosemount, Minnesota, to determine their impact on soil nitrogen (N) mineralization and availability to corn grown with KCLM. Results showed that the amount of soil inorganic N in the root zone was a strong function of tillage intensity, with the greatest amount found in the double-tilled system. A large difference between years was also noted in all systems due to later planting the second year, which resulted in greater clover biomass and correspondingly greater soil N later in the season. These findings will promote the use of KCLM to increase N use efficiency, decrease fertilizer inputs, and reduce reactive N losses with organic and conventional corn production. 03 Biochar improves allelopathic chemical persistence. Allelopathic chemicals such as coumarin are known to have positive or negative effects on plant and microbial communities, but the influence of biochar on the fate of soil allelopathic chemicals is not understood. For the first time, ARS researchers in Saint Paul, Minnesota, studied the effects of biochar on coumarin by comparing its activity in unamended soil to its activity in soil amended with fresh and aged biochar. At high application rates, biochar increased the sorption of coumarin and, consequently, changed its degradation and leaching patterns. Results indicated that the increase in organic matter provided by the biochar was the dominant factor controlling coumarin sorption, and that alteration of biochar surface chemistry due to aging was not an important factor. These results have significant implications for the use of biochar as a soil amendment for enhancing the activity of naturally occurring allelochemicals.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Toczydlowski, A., Slesak, R., Kolka, R., Venterea, R.T. 2020. Temperature and water-level effects on greenhouse gas fluxes from black ash (Fraxinus nigra) wetlands in the Upper Great Lakes region, USA. Applied Soil Ecology. 153:103565.
- Venterea, R.T., Coulter, J., Clough, T. 2020. Nitrite accumulation and nitrogen gas production increase with decreasing temperature in urea- mended soils: Experiments and modeling. Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 142:107727.
- Toczydlowski, A., Slesak, R., Kolka, R., Venterea, R.T., D'Amato, A., Palik, B. 2019. Effect of simulated emerald ash borer infestation on nitrogen cycling in black ash (Fraxinus nigra) wetlands in northern Minnesota, USA. Forest Ecology and Management. 458:117769.
- Alexander, J.R., Baker, J.M., Venterea, R.T., Coulter, J.A. 2019. Kura clover living mulch reduces fertilizer N requirements and increases profitablility of maize. Agronomy. 9(8):432.
- Anderson, E., Jang, J., Venterea, R.T., Feyereisen, G.W., Ishii, S. 2020. Isolation and characterization of denitrifiers from woodchip bioreactors for bioaugmentation application. Journal of Applied Microbiology.
- Chen, Z., Griffis, T.J., Baker, J.M., Millet, D.B., Wood, J.D., Dlugokencky, E.J., Andrews, A.E., Hu, C., Kolka, R.K. 2018. Source partitioning of methane emissions and its seasonality in the U.S. Midwest. Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences. 123(2):646-659.
- Domingues, R.R., Sanchez-Monedero, M.A., Spokas, K.A., Melo, L.C., Trugilho, P.F., Valenciano, M.N., Silva, C.A. 2020. Enhancing cation exchange capacity of weathered soils using biochar: feedstock, pyrolysis conditions and addition rate. Agronomy. 10(6):824.
- Deventer, J.M., Griffis, T.J., Roman, T.J., Kolka, R.B., Wood, J.D., Erickson, M.D., Baker, J.M., Millet, D.B. 2019. Error characterization of methane fluxes and budgets derived from a long-term comparison of open- and closed-path eddy covariance systems. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 278:107638.
- Ferraz-Almeida, R., Spokas, K.A., De Oliveira, R.C. 2020. Columns and detectors recommended in gas chromatography to measure greenhouse emission and O2 uptake in soil: A review. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis. 51(5):582-594.
- Ginakes, P., Grossman, J., Baker, J.M., Sooksa-nguan, T. 2019. Tillage intensity influences nitrogen cycling in organic kura clover living mulch. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems. 116:71-82.
- Souza, E.F., Soratto, R.P., Sandana, P., Venterea, R.T., Rosen, C. 2020. Split application of stabilized ammonium nitrate improved potato yield and nitrogen-use efficiency with reduced application rate in tropical sandy soils. Field Crops Research. 254.
- Spiegal, S.A., Kleinman, P.J., Endale, D.M., Bryant, R.B., Dell, C.J., Goslee, S.C., Meinen, R.J., Flynn, K.C., Baker, J.M., Browning, D.M., McCarty, G.W., Bittman, S., Carter, J.D., Cavigelli, M.A., Duncan, E.W., Gowda, P.H., Li, X., Ponce, G., Raj, C., Silveira, M., Smith, D.R., Arthur, D.K., Yang, Q. 2020. Manuresheds: Advancing nutrient recycling in US agriculture. Agricultural Systems. 182:102813.
- Yu, X., Millet, D.B., Wells, K.C., Griffis, T.J., Chen, X., Baker, J.M., Conley, S.A., Smith, M.L., Gvakharia, A., Kort, E.A., Plant, G., Wood, J.D. 2019. Top-down constraints on methane point source emissions from animal agriculture and waste based on new airborne measurements in the U.S. Upper Midwest. Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences. 125(1).
- Christianson, L.E., Feyereisen, G.W., Hay, C.H., Tschirner, U.W., Keegan, K.J., Soupir, M.L., Hoover, N.L. 2020. Denitrifying bioreactor woodchip recharge: Media properties after nine years. Transactions of the ASABE. 63(2):407-416.
- Griffis, T.J., Hu, C., Baker, J.M., Wood, J.D., Millet, D.B., Erickson, M. D., Yu, Z., Deventer, J.M., Winker, C.D., Chen, Z. 2019. Tall tower ammonia observations and emission estimates in the U.S. Midwest. Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences. 124(11):3432-3447.
- Gamiz, B., Velarde, P., Spokas, K.A., Cox, L. 2019. Dynamic effect of fresh and aged biochar on the behavior of the herbicide mesotrione in soils. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 67(34):9450-9459.
- Gamiz, B., Hall, K., Spokas, K.A., Cox, L. 2019. Understanding activation effects on low-temperature biochar for optimization of herbicide sorption. Agronomy. 9(10):588.
- Novak, J.M., Spokas, K.A., Johnson, M.G. 2018. Concentration and release of phosphorus and potassium from lignocellulosic and manure-based biochars from fertilizer reuse. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems.
- De Klein, C.A., Harvey, M.J., Clough, T.J., Petersen, S.O., Chadwick, D.R., Venterea, R.T. 2020. Global Research Alliance N2O chamber methodology guidelines: Introduction, with health and safety considerations. Journal of Environmental Quality. 49(5):1073-1080.
- Venterea, R.T., Petersen, S., De Klein, C., Pederson, A.R., Noble, A., Rees, R., Gamble, J.D., Parkin, T.B. 2020. Global research alliance N2O chamber methodology guidelines: Flux calculations. Journal of Environmental Quality.
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Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416): 1. Assess the environmental impacts of crop management practices that have the potential to improve soil health and decrease greenhouse gas emissions in the Upper Midwest. a. Develop a perennialized row crop system that reduces the environmental footprint of agriculture and improves its resilience, without adverse impacts on water usage and profitability. b. Develop new knowledge regarding soil nitrogen cycling and nitric and nitrous oxide production mechanisms. c. Develop new knowledge of chemical triggering compounds of microbial activity. 2. Increase nutrient use efficiency and reduce nutrient losses to leaching, runoff and atmospheric emissions in Upper Midwest cropping systems. a. Develop improved methods to quantify and to reduce losses of reactive N gases from fertilized cropping systems. b. Evaluate manure management practices for improvement of nutrient cycling and reduction of reactive nitrogen losses on large dairies. Approach (from AD-416): All the objectives of this project have a common focus on quantifying the impacts of management practices, including crop rotation/cover crops, irrigation, and synthetic N fertilizer or manure amendments, on GHG emissions and nutrient availability for crop uptake or susceptibility to loss to the environment. The different objectives complement each other in several ways. In order to gain insights from multiple perspectives, the methods for each objective range across scales, including large field and larger plot studies (sub-objective 1a); replicated small-plots (2a); soil column mesocosms (2b); and laboratory microcosms (1b, 1c). The same set of soil types representing a range of Minnesota agricultural soils from across the state, including soil from both field experiments (1a and 2a), will be used in the microcosm and mesocosm experiments (1b, 1c and 2b). Thus, results from the three laboratory experiments each of which have different primary objectives, will inform and help to interpret results of the other lab studies; and results from the lab experiments under more controlled conditions will inform results of the field experiments that are subject to dynamic climate conditions. Both of the field experiments (1a and 2a) will measure greenhouse gas emissions and ammonia volatilization losses from cropping systems under similar soil types (the same soil series) but with different management regimes, which may also allow for cross-site comparison of results. This research also complements efforts within several national projects and initiatives, including the Greenhouse Gas Reduction through Agricultural Carbon Enhancement (GRACEnet), Resilient Economic Agricultural Practices (REAP), Dairy Agro-ecosystem Working Group (DAWG) and Long-Term Agricultural Research (LTAR) networks; and as such will involve collaboration with several colleagues from other ARS locations, universities and other organizations. Sub-objective 1a. Develop a perennialized row crop system that reduces the environmental footprint of agriculture and improves its resilience, without adverse impacts on water usage and profitability. The second year of a two-year field experiment designed to determine the nitrogen (N) requirements for corn grown in a kura clover living mulch (KLCM) was completed and the data were analyzed and submitted for publication. Results showed that first-year corn following two-three years of forage management did not require fertilizer N to maximize yield and profitability, while second-year corn required a fertilizer N rate near local university guidelines for corn following soybean. An economic analysis was also completed which showed that net return from corn grain and stover in the KCLM system averaged over both growing seasons was $138 per ha greater than a conventional corn comparison. Sub-objective 1b. Develop new knowledge regarding soil nitrogen cycling and nitric and nitrous oxide production mechanisms. Incubation experiments using three soil types in triplicate, each at five temperatures, with and without addition of a nitrification inhibitor analyzed for seven response variables (NH+4, NH3, NO2-, NO3-, NO, N2O and pH) on 11 sampling dates resulted in a large data set (> 900 data points) that required extensive analysis. Two separate publications are being prepared to report the complete results of this experiment; one manuscript describes a process-based model of nitrification and associated gas production and compares model simulations to a subset of the data in the absence of nitrification inhibitor; and one manuscript applies the model to data with nitrification inhibitor. The first manuscript is well-developed and should be submitted before end of the fiscal year. Sub-objective 1c. Develop new knowledge of chemical triggering compounds of microbial activity. Due to the government shutdown, a series of soil incubation experiments that were underway prior to the shutdown had to be terminated. This resulted in 3-4 months of extra effort, due to the loss of analytical data that could not be collected during the furlough. The experiments were restarted and data are being collected and analyzed statistically as they are generated. The goal is to be back on schedule with milestones by next year. Sub-objective 2a. Develop improved methods to quantify and to reduce losses of reactive N gases from fertilized cropping systems. The field experiment was expanded using extramural funds obtained from Eurochem Agro and in collaboration with University of Minnesota ⿿ St. Paul researchers. The first year of the two-year field study was successfully completed at three field sites including an experiment with corn in St. Paul, Minnesota, and two experiments in Becker, Minnesota one with corn and one with potato. Each experiment was continued for a second year and is progressing as planned, with measurements of nitrous oxide emissions, nitrate leaching, soil nitrogen, plant tissue nutrient content and crop yields. Each experiment is comparing seven replicated treatments, including (i) a no-fertilizer control, (ii) urea only, (iii) urea plus the nitrification inhibitor DMPSA, (iv) urea plus the urease inhibitor NBPT, (v) urea plus DMPSA and NBPT, (vi) urea plus a microbial inoculant, and (vii) urea plus DMPSA and the microbial inoculant. A laboratory incubation experiment was also completed comparing a subset of these treatments. The automated flux chamber system for semi-continuous measurement of greenhouse gas fluxes is still undergoing repairs and testing. Sub-objective 2b. Evaluate manure management practices for improvement of nutrient cycling and reduction of reactive nitrogen losses on large dairies. A manuscript on the column leaching experiment to evaluate losses of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from manure and non-manure sources on a range of soils was drafted. Additional field experiments, in collaboration with an ARS researcher in Madison, Wisconsin, and a University of Minnesota ⿿ St. Paul researcher, were conducted through a second winter. The experiments are designed to determine P and N release from a snowpack with application of dairy manure under, within, or atop the snowpack. The experiments will provide data for model development and extend earlier laboratory work that described nutrient release to water over expected range of temperatures in Minnesota. Accomplishments 01 Rotary zone tillage improves the performance of corn in perennial living mulch systems. Perennial living mulches are farming systems that provide the environmental benefits of cover crops in row crop agriculture, including reductions of erosion and chemical runoff, without the need to replant each year. One plant that is commonly used as a living mulch is kura clover, a long-lived legume that spreads by rhizomes. Strip tillage can be used to establish rows in it for planting corn or soybeans, but yields are often reduced compared to conventional production. We hypothesized that one reason for yield reduction might be early season competition for light, water, and nutrients, and that this could be ameliorated by creating a wider tilled zone. To test this hypothesis, we employed a novel rotary zone tillage unit (RZT) that uses rotary tines to create a wide (30 cm) cleared zone for each row. This system was compared against a traditional shank-based strip tillage unit (ST) for corn production over two growing seasons. We measured early season temperature and water content within the rows, biomass production of both corn and kura clover, and corn yield in both systems. In both years, corn emerged earlier and developed faster in the RZT plots. There was no significant difference in yield in the first season between the systems, but in the second season there was a substantial benefit to the rotary zone tillage system, which produced 4.0 Mg ha-1 in grain and 3.5 Mg ha-1 more stover, with no significant impact of kura clover biomass production. We conclude that the RZT system improves the likelihood for successful corn production in perennial living mulch systems, which should improve the adoption rate of this promising new farming system. 02 Biostimulant additives for co-application with urea result in unintended nitrogen losses. Urea is the dominant form of nitrogen (N) fertilizer in much of the USA and globally. Various additives have been designed for co-application with urea to improve performance of N- intensive crops including potato. Few if any studies have compared microbial ⿿inhibitor⿿ additives with so-called ⿿biostimulants⿿ designed to enhance plant growth or microbial activity. Over two potato growing seasons in an irrigated potato system in Minnesota, we found that a biostimulant containing N-fixing microbes (NFM) increased nitrous oxide (N2O) gas emissions by more than 30%, in contrast to the inhibitors, which decreased N2O emissions by more than 40%. Also, in the wetter of the two growing seasons, NFM also increased NO3- leaching by 23%. Biostimulants can have unintended impacts on reactive N losses and should be used with caution pending additional study to better understand their effects on biological processes and to quantify their performance in other agro-ecosystems. These results will assist producers and policy makers in developing practices for improving nutrient use efficiency and reducing nitrogen losses to the environment. 03 A perennial living mulch reduces fertilizer N requirements and increases profitability of corn. Kura clover living mulch (KCLM) systems have been investigated for their incorporation into upper Midwestern row crop rotations to provide ecosystem services through continuous living cover, but factors affecting agronomic performance and nutrient management are not well defined. Field experiments conducted in 2017 and 2018 showed that first-year corn following two- three years of forage management did not require fertilizer N to maximize yield and profitability, while second-year corn required a fertilizer N rate near local university guidelines for corn following soybean. The net economic return from corn grain and stover in the KCLM system averaged over both growing seasons was $138 per ha greater than a conventional corn comparison. The KCLM cropping system provides a new economically viable option for corn growers.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Jang, J., Anderson, E., Venterea, R.T., Sadowsky, M., Rosen, C., Feyereisen, G.W., Ishii, S. 2019. Cold-adapted denitrifying bacteria in woodchip bioreactor. Frontiers in Microbiology. 10(635):1-12.
- Chu, H., Baldocchi, D., Poindexter, C., Abraha, M., Desai, A., Bohrer, G., Arain, M., Griffis, T., Blanken, P., O'Halloran, T., Hatfield, J.L., Prueger, J.H., Baker, J.M. 2018. Temporal dynamics of aerodynamic canopy height derived from eddy covariance momentum flux data across North American Flux Networks. Geophysical Research Letters. 45(17):9275-9287.
- Ginakes, P., Grossman, J., Sooksa-Nguan, T., Dobbratz, M., Baker, J.M. 2018. Soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics under zone tillage of varying intensities in a kura clover living mulch system. Soil & Tillage Research. 184(12):310-316.
- Alexander, J.R., Venterea, R.T., Baker, J.M., Coulter, J.A. 2019. Kura clover living mulch: Spring management effects on nitrogen. Agronomy. 9(2), 69:1-14.
- Fidel, R.B., Laird, D.A., Spokas, K.A. 2018. Sorption of ammonium and nitrate to biochars is electrostatic and pH-dependent. Nature Scientific Reports. 8(1):1-10.
- Gamiz, B., Velarde, P., Spokas, K.A., Celis, R., Cox, L. 2019. Changes in sorption and bioavailability of herbicides in soil amended with fresh and aged biochar. Geoderma. 337:341-349.
- Meschewski, E., Holm, N., Sharma, B., Spokas, K.A., Minalt, N., Kelly, J. 2019. Biochar additions across Illinois agricultural soils: Greenhouse gas production, corn growth, and soil microbial responses. Chemosphere. 228:565-576.
- Fuertes-Mendizabal, T., Huerfano, X., Vega-Mas, I., Torralbo, F., Menendez, S., Ippolito, J.A., Kammann, C., Wrage-Monnig, N., Cayuela, M., Borchard, N., Spokas, K.A., Novak, J.M., Gonzalez-Moro, M., Gonzalez-Murua, C., Estavillo, J. 2019. Biochar reduces the efficiency of nitrification inhibitor 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) mitigating N2O emissions. Nature Scientific Reports. 9(2346):1-16.
- Wilson, P., Streich, J., Murray, K., Eichten, S., Cheng, R., Aitkin, N., Spokas, K.A., Warthmann, N., Gordon, S., Vogel, J., Borevitz, J. 2019. Global diversity of the brachypodium species complex as a resource for genome-wide association studies demonstrated for agronomic traits in response to climate. Genetics. 211(1):317-331.
- Sigua, G.C., Novak, J.M., Watts, D.W., Ippolito, J.A., Ducey, T.F., Johnson, M.G., Spokas, K.A. 2019. Phytostabilization of Zn and Cd in mine soil using corn in combination with manure-based biochar and compost. Environments. 6(6):69.
- Roser, M., Feyereisen, G.W., Spokas, K.A., Mulla, D.J., Strock, J.S., Gutknecht, J. 2018. Carbon dosing increases nitrate removal rates in denitrifying bioreactors at low-temperature high-flow conditions. Journal of Environmental Quality. 47(4):856-864.
- Borchard, N., Schirrmann, M., Cayuela, M.L., Kammann, C., Wrange-Monnig, N. , Estavillo, J., Fuertes-Mendizabal, T., Sigua, G.C., Spokas, K.A., Ippolito, J., Novak, J.M. 2018. Biochar, soil and land-use interactions that reduce nitrate leaching and N2O emissions: A meta-analysis. Science of the Total Environment. 651:2354-2364.
- Novak, J.M., Moore, E., Spokas, K.A., Hall, K., Williams, A. 2018. Future biochar research directions. In: Ok, Y.S., Tsang, D.C., Bolan, N., Novak, J.M., editors. Biochar from Biomass and Waste. 1st edition, New York, NY: Academic Press. p. 423-432.
- Dobbratz, M., Baker, J.M., Grossman, J., Wells, M., Ginakes, P. 2019. Rotary zone tillage improves corn establishment in a kura clover living mulch. Soil & Tillage Research. 189(6):229-235.
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Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416): 1. Assess the environmental impacts of crop management practices that have the potential to improve soil health and decrease greenhouse gas emissions in the Upper Midwest. a. Develop a perennialized row crop system that reduces the environmental footprint of agriculture and improves its resilience, without adverse impacts on water usage and profitability. b. Develop new knowledge regarding soil nitrogen cycling and nitric and nitrous oxide production mechanisms. c. Develop new knowledge of chemical triggering compounds of microbial activity. 2. Increase nutrient use efficiency and reduce nutrient losses to leaching, runoff and atmospheric emissions in Upper Midwest cropping systems. a. Develop improved methods to quantify and to reduce losses of reactive N gases from fertilized cropping systems. b. Evaluate manure management practices for improvement of nutrient cycling and reduction of reactive nitrogen losses on large dairies. Approach (from AD-416): All the objectives of this project have a common focus on quantifying the impacts of management practices, including crop rotation/cover crops, irrigation, and synthetic N fertilizer or manure amendments, on GHG emissions and nutrient availability for crop uptake or susceptibility to loss to the environment. The different objectives complement each other in several ways. In order to gain insights from multiple perspectives, the methods for each objective range across scales, including large field and larger plot studies (sub-objective 1a); replicated small-plots (2a); soil column mesocosms (2b); and laboratory microcosms (1b, 1c). The same set of soil types representing a range of Minnesota agricultural soils from across the state, including soil from both field experiments (1a and 2a), will be used in the microcosm and mesocosm experiments (1b, 1c and 2b). Thus, results from the three laboratory experiments each of which have different primary objectives, will inform and help to interpret results of the other lab studies; and results from the lab experiments under more controlled conditions will inform results of the field experiments that are subject to dynamic climate conditions. Both of the field experiments (1a and 2a) will measure greenhouse gas emissions and ammonia volatilization losses from cropping systems under similar soil types (the same soil series) but with different management regimes, which may also allow for cross-site comparison of results. This research also complements efforts within several national projects and initiatives, including the Greenhouse Gas Reduction through Agricultural Carbon Enhancement (GRACEnet), Resilient Economic Agricultural Practices (REAP), Dairy Agro-ecosystem Working Group (DAWG) and Long-Term Agricultural Research (LTAR) networks; and as such will involve collaboration with several colleagues from other ARS locations, universities and other organizations. Sub-objective 1a: Data were analyzed from the first year of an experiment designed to determine the nitrogen (N) requirement for corn grown in a kura clover living mulch. Results showed that in the first year of planting corn into the clover stand, there was no need to add N fertilizer to optimize grain yield. In second-year corn, there was no benefit beyond adding 107 lb N ac-1, which is significantly less than the N recommendations provided by the Minnesota Extension Service. In addition, kura clover seed that had been harvested from an experimental field was cleaned, tested, and provided to potential seed producers, with the goal of increasing the amount of available seed. Finally, an experiment was initiated to determine the feasibility of using hydroseeding for establishment of a kura clover stand. Sub-objective 1b: The second round of microcosm experiments initiated last year were expanded to include five temperatures (5, 10, 15, 23 and 30o C). All of the experiments were completed. Data analysis is underway. Also extracted DNA from selected soil samples from the experiments and shipped the extracts to our collaborators at ARS, Beltsville and University of Maryland, who will investigate treatment effects on microbial DNA sequences. Additional laboratory incubation experiments were established to attempt to isolate biological and non-biological sources of nitrous oxide production in soil following amendment with organic materials using various means of soil sterilization, including mercuric chloride and gamma irradiation in collaboration with University of Minnesota researchers. These incubation experiments are continuing. Sub-objective 1c: A laboratory methodology was developed to identify headspace volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during soil and residue mineralization studies. The technique was used to observe VOC production during incubation of soil with and without addition of fresh corn residue. When soil and corn residue were incubated together, the most abundant volatile organic compounds were fatty acids, ketones and aldehydes. These results indicated that microbial decomposition of fresh corn residues leads to a different VOC signature than degradation of native soil organic matter by itself. The incubation methodology is being further developed using a pre-concentration step with solid phase micro- extraction fibers to improve compound identification and detection limits. It was also found that the addition of biochar to soil influences the distribution and absolute concentration of VOCs. The ability of VOCs to suppress microbial N2O and CO2 production is also being examined. Sub- objective 2a: Obtained extramural funds which allowed us to substantially expand the original project plan design from a single field site comparing three contrasting nitrogen management treatments, to three field sites (corn at Saint Paul, corn at Becker, and potato at Becker) each comparing seven treatments over two growing seasons. The additional funds also allowed us to include measurement of soil-water nitrate concentrations in below-root-zone samples and additional plant analysis to the matrix of measurements. The experiments were successfully established, the crops are being managed, and intensive soil, water, gas and plant sampling are underway. This experiment is being conducted with support from Eurochem Agro, and in collaboration with University of Minnesota researchers. Operation of the automated flux chamber system for semi-continuous measurement of greenhouse gas fluxes encountered some delays due to electrical problems which are currently being repaired, and expect the system to be operating at the Saint Paul site before the end of the current growing season. Sub-objective 2b: A column leaching experiment to evaluate losses of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from manure and non-manure sources on a range of soils has been completed. Sample analysis and data analysis are in process. Related experiments investigating effects of temperature on nutrient release from dairy manure to water, and effects of temperature and dairy manure placement within a snowpack on P and N release, were also completed. This research is being done in collaboration with faculty researchers from the University of Minnesota and an ARS researcher in Madison, Wisconsin. Accomplishments 01 Nitrous oxide emissions are likely to increase in a warmer world. Emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) from fertilized soil are an indicator of reduced nitrogen (N) use efficiency, which increases farmer production costs and has environmental impacts. Nitrous oxide is also a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) and important ozone-depleting gas. A key question is how N2O emissions will respond to expected changes in global climate. A unique 6-year data set of N2O concentrations measured at a tall radio tower was used in conjunction with modeling to estimate regional N2O emissions within the US Corn Belt. Annual N2O emissions were highly sensitive to climatic variations; in the warmest spring, 2012, more than 7% of the N applied was emitted as N2O, nearly double the expected rate. Factoring in expected trends in climate and N fertilizer use, it was estimated that regional N2O emissions will substantially exceed previous projections in the coming decades. This represents an additional challenge to the already difficult task of reducing N2O emissions and other N losses from agricultural production systems.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Vozhdayev, G.V., Spokas, K.A., Molde, J.S., Heilmann, S.M., Wood, B.M., Valentas, K.J. 2018. Impact of two hydrothermal carbonization filtrates on soil greenhouse production. Agronomy Journal. 2(1):48-61.
- Cambaliza, M.O., Bogner, J., Green, R.B., Shepson, P.B., Harvey, T.A., Spokas, K.A., Brian, S.H., Margaret, C. 2017. Field measurements and modeling to resolve m2 to km2 CH4 emissions for a complex urban source: An Indiana landfill study. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene. 5:36.
- Lim, T., Spokas, K.A., Feyereisen, G.W., Weis, R.D., Koskinen, W. 2017. Influence of biochar particle size and shape on soil hydraulic properties. Journal of Environmental Science and Engineering. 5(1):8-15.
- Joseph, S., Kammann, C.I., Shepard, J.G., Conte, P., Schmidt, H., Hagemann, N., Rich, A.M., Spokas, K.A., Marjo, C.E., Allan, J., Munroe, P., Mitchell, D.R., Donne, S., Graber, E.R. 2018. Microstructural and associated chemical changes during the composting of a high temperature biochar: Mechanisms for nitrate, phosphate and other nutrient retention and release. Science of the Total Environment. 618:1210-1223.
- Mendes, K.F., Hall, K.E., Spokas, K.A., Koskinen, W.C., Tornisielo, V.L. 2017. Evaluating agricultural management effects on alachlor availability: Tillage, green manure, and biochar. Agronomy. 7(4):64.
- Hagerman, N., Spokas, K.A., Schmidt, H., Kagi, R., Bohler, M., Bucheli, T. D. 2018. Activated carbon, biochar and charcoal: Linkages and synergies across pyrogenic carbon's ABC. Water. 10(2):182.
- Griffis, T.J., Chen, Z., Baker, J.M., Wood, J.D., Millet, D.B., Lee, X., Venterea, R.T., Turner, P.A. 2017. Nitrous oxide emissions are enhanced in a warmer and wetter world. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 114(45):12081-12085.
- Noland, R., Wells, M.S., Sheaffer, C.C., Coulter, J.A., Baker, J.M., Martinson, K. 2018. Establishment and function of cover crops interseeded into corn. Crop Science. 58(2):863-873.
- Gamble, J.D., Feyereisen, G.W., Papiernik, S.K., Wente, C.D., Baker, J.M. 2018. Regression-kriged soil organic carbon stock changes in manured corn silage-alfalfa production systems. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 81:1557-1566.
- Bronson, K.F., Hunsaker, D.J., Williams, C.F., Thorp, K.R., Rockholt, S.M., Del Grosso, S.J., Venterea, R.T., Barnes, E.M. 2018. Nitrogen management impacts nitrous oxide emissions under varying cotton irrigation systems in the American Desert Southwest. Journal of Environmental Quality. 47:70-78.
- Chen, Z., Griffis, T., Baker, J.M., Millet, D.S., Wood, J.D., Dlugokencky, E.J., Andrews, A.E., Hu, C., Kolka, R.K. 2018. Source partitioning of methane emissions and its seasonality in the U.S. Midwest. Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences. 123:646-659.
- Chen, M., Griffis, T.J., Baker, J.M., Wood, J.M., Meyers, T., Suyker, A. 2018. Comparing crop growth and carbon budgets simulated across AmeriFlux agricultural sites using the community land model (CLM). Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 256-257:315-333.
- Holly, M.A., Kleinman, P.J., Bryant, R.B., Bjorneberg, D.L., Church, C., Baker, M.E., Boggess, M.V., Chintala, R., Feyereisen, G.W., Gamble, J.D., Leytem, A.B., Reed, K., Rotz, C.A., Vadas, P.A., Waldrip, H., Brauer, D.K. 2018. Identifying challenges and opportunities for improved nutrient management through U.S.D.A's Dairy Agroecosystem Working Group. Journal of Dairy Science. 101:1-10.
- Malone, R.W., Obrycki, J., Karlen, D.L., Ma, L., Kaspar, T.C., Jaynes, D.B. , Parkin, T.B., Lence, S., Feyereisen, G.W., Fang, Q., Richards, T.L., Gillette, K.L. 2018. Harvesting fertilized rye cover crop: simulated revenue, net energy, and drainage Nitrogen loss. Agricultural and Environmental Letters. 3:170041.
- Staley, C., Breuillin-Sessoms, F., Wang, P., Kaiser, T., Venterea, R.T., Sadowsky, M. 2018. Urea amendment decreases microbial diversity and selects for specific nitrifying strains in eight contrasting agricultural soils. Frontiers in Microbiology. 9(634):1-13. doi:
- Ochsner, T., Schumacher, T.W., Venterea, R.T., Feyereisen, G.W., Baker, J. M. 2018. Soil water dynamics and nitrate leaching under corn-soybean rotation, continuous corn, and kura clover. Vadose Zone Journal. 17:170028.
- Walker, Z.T., Coulter, J.A., Russelle, M.P., Venterea, R.T., Mallarino, A. P., Lauer, J.G., Yost, M.A. 2017. Do soil tests help forecast nitrogen response in first-year corn following alfalfa on fine-textured soils? Soil Science Society of America Journal. 81(6):1640-1651. doi:10.2136/sssaj2017. 06.0183.
- Martins, C., Nazaries, L., Delgado-Baquerizo, M., Macdonald, C.A., Anderson, I.C., Hobbie, S.E., Venterea, R.T., Reich, P.B., Singh, B.K. 2017. Identifying environmental drivers of greenhouse gas emissions under warming and reduced rainfall in boreal-temperate forests. Functional Ecology. 31:2356-2368. doi:10.1111/1365-2435.12928.
- Gillette, K.L., Malone, R.W., Kaspar, T.C., Ma, L., Parkin, T.B., Jaynes, D.B., Fang, Q.X., Hatfield, J.L., Feyereisen, G.W., Kersebaum, K.C. 2018. N loss to drain flow and N2O emissions from a corn-soybean rotation with winter rye. Science of the Total Environment. 618:982-997.
- Almeida, R.F., De Bortoli Teixeira, D., Montanari, R., Bolonhezi, A.C., Teixeira, E.B., Moitinho, M.R., Panosso, A.R., Spokas, K.A., La Scala Junior, N. 2018. Ratio of CO2 and O2 as index for categorizing soil biological activity in sugarcane areas under contrasting straw management regimes. Soil Research. 56(4):373�381.
- Tavares, R., Spokas, K.A., Hall, K., Colosky, E., De Souza, Z., La Scala, N. 2018. Sugarcane residue management impact soil greenhouse gas. Ci�ncia e Agrotecnologia. 42(2):195-203.
- Noland, R., Wells, M.S., Coulter, J.A., Tiede, T., Baker, J.M., Martinson, K., Sheaffer, C.C. 2018. Estimating alfalfa yield and nutritive value with remote sensing and environmental factors. Field Crops Research. 222:189- 196. doi: 10.1016/j.fcr.2018.01.017.
- Hu, C., Griffis, T.J., Lee, X., Millet, D.B., Chen, Z., Baker, J.M., Xiao, K. 2018. Top-down constraints on anthropogenic CO2 emissions within an agricultural-urban landscape. Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres. 123(9):4674-4694. doi: 10.1029/2017JD027881.
- Fu, C., Lee, X., Griffis, T.J., Baker, J.M., Turner, P.A. 2018. A modeling study of direct and indirect N2O emissions from a representative catchment in the U. S. Corn Belt. Water Resources Research. 54(5):3632-3653. doi:
- Gamble, J.D., Feyereisen, G.W., Papiernik, S.K., Wente, C.D., Baker, J.M. 2018. Summer fertigation of dairy slurry reduces soil nitrate concentrations and subsurface drainage nitrate losses compared to fall injection. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. doi:
- Gollany, H.T., Venterea, R.T. 2018. Measurements and models to identify agroecosystem practices that enhance soil organic carbon under changing climate. Journal of Environmental Quality. 47:579-587.
- Vadas, P.A., Stock, M.N., Feyereisen, G.W., Arriaga, F.J., Good, L.W., Karthikeyan, K.G. 2018. Effect of temperature and manure placement in a snowpack on nutrient release from dairy manure during snowmelt. Journal of Environmental Quality. 47:848-855.
- Novak, J.M., Ippolito, J.A., Ducey, T.F., Watts, D.W., Spokas, K.A., Trippe, K.M., Sigua, G.C., Johnson, M.G. 2018. Remediation of an acidic mine spoil: Miscanthus biochar and lime amendment affects metal availability, plant growth and soil enzymatic activity. Chemosphere. 205:709-718.
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Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416): 1. Assess the environmental impacts of crop management practices that have the potential to improve soil health and decrease greenhouse gas emissions in the Upper Midwest. a. Develop a perennialized row crop system that reduces the environmental footprint of agriculture and improves its resilience, without adverse impacts on water usage and profitability. b. Develop new knowledge regarding soil nitrogen cycling and nitric and nitrous oxide production mechanisms. c. Develop new knowledge of chemical triggering compounds of microbial activity. 2. Increase nutrient use efficiency and reduce nutrient losses to leaching, runoff and atmospheric emissions in Upper Midwest cropping systems. a. Develop improved methods to quantify and to reduce losses of reactive N gases from fertilized cropping systems. b. Evaluate manure management practices for improvement of nutrient cycling and reduction of reactive nitrogen losses on large dairies. Approach (from AD-416): All the objectives of this project have a common focus on quantifying the impacts of management practices, including crop rotation/cover crops, irrigation, and synthetic N fertilizer or manure amendments, on GHG emissions and nutrient availability for crop uptake or susceptibility to loss to the environment. The different objectives complement each other in several ways. In order to gain insights from multiple perspectives, the methods for each objective range across scales, including large field and larger plot studies (sub-objective 1a); replicated small-plots (2a); soil column mesocosms (2b); and laboratory microcosms (1b, 1c). The same set of soil types representing a range of Minnesota agricultural soils from across the state, including soil from both field experiments (1a and 2a), will be used in the microcosm and mesocosm experiments (1b, 1c and 2b). Thus, results from the three laboratory experiments each of which have different primary objectives, will inform and help to interpret results of the other lab studies; and results from the lab experiments under more controlled conditions will inform results of the field experiments that are subject to dynamic climate conditions. Both of the field experiments (1a and 2a) will measure greenhouse gas emissions and ammonia volatilization losses from cropping systems under similar soil types (the same soil series) but with different management regimes, which may also allow for cross-site comparison of results. This research also complements efforts within several national projects and initiatives, including the Greenhouse Gas Reduction through Agricultural Carbon Enhancement (GRACEnet), Resilient Economic Agricultural Practices (REAP), Dairy Agro-ecosystem Working Group (DAWG) and Long-Term Agricultural Research (LTAR) networks; and as such will involve collaboration with several colleagues from other ARS locations, universities and other organizations. Objective 1a: A field experiment has been initiated at the University of Minnesota Research and Outreach Center in Rosemount, Minnesota. The objective is to determine optimal N rates for corn in a kura clover living mulch system, for both 1st and 2nd year corn following an established kura clover stand in two consecutive years (2017 and 2018). The experiment is a randomized complete block with four replications, with plots that are six rows (4.6 m) wide and 15.2 m long. Eight N management treatments will be used: a non-N-fertilized control; 40, 80, 120, 180, and 250 kg N ha-1 applied through split application of urea containing nitrification and urease inhibitors, where 40 kg N ha-1 is applied prior to planting and the remaining N is side dressed at the six- leaf corn stage; 120 kg N ha-1 of urea (without microbial inhibitors) applied using the aforementioned split-application method or in a single application prior to planting. Data collection from all plots will include aboveground yield and carbon and N contents of kura clover prior to tillage and at corn harvest in the tilled strips and in the non-tilled furrow, yield and N content of corn grain, cob, and stover at corn physiological maturity, and residual soil nitrate-N content following corn harvest. Agronomic N use efficiency and corn N recovery efficiency, revenue, cost of production, and economic net return will be calculated. A second part of the project will examine factors affecting the initial establishment of kura clover. A field has been identified for this research, and an experimental plan has been developed. This research is being partially funded by the Minnesota Corn Research and Promotion Council. University of Minnesota collaborators are, is collaborating and providing additional expertise. Objective 1b: Eight soils types were collected from across Minnesota as originally planned. The first round of the microcosm experiments was completed, and the data were analyzed and published ahead of schedule in Soil Biology and Biochemistry. The results showed for the first time that the ratio of two microbial genes, amoA and nxrA, explained greater than 78% of the variance in cumulative nitrite and nitrous oxide production across all eight soils and five urea addition rates. The results also showed that abundances of the nxrA gene declined above critical urea addition rates, indicating a consistent pattern of suppression of Nitrobacter-associated nitrite-oxidizing bacteria due to ammonia toxicity. In contrast, abundances of the nxrB gene exhibited a broader range of responses indicating that Nitrospira-associated nitrite- oxidizing bacteria responded differently than Nitrobacter-associated nitrite-oxidizing bacteria. Soil DNA extracts from this experiment were also submitted for 16S rRNA sequencing. The sequencing results were analyzed in collaboration with the University of Minnesota�s Biotechnology Institute and a manuscript was submitted for publication. A second round of microcosm experiments was initiated. This experiment will examine three of the eight soil types, each amended with urea and incubated at four temperatures (10 o, 15 o, 23 o and 30o C), with and without the addition of the nitrification inhibitor dicycandiamide. The newly-designed laboratory system for simultaneously measuring ammonia, nitric oxide and nitrous oxide gas production will be used in this experiment, and the normal suite of chemical and gene measurements will also be made. Collaboration with ARS scientist in Beltsville, Maryland and his collaborator at the University of Maryland, who will investigate additional DNA sequences. Objective 1c: Eight soil types from various sites across Minnesota were acquired, in coordination with activities under Objective 1b. Laboratory incubation experiments have been initiated. Soil screening experiments will be conducted to construct a volatile compound database based on initial observations during residue mineralization. Objective 2a: The automated flux chamber system for semi-continuous measurement of greenhouse gas fluxes is being deployed in a newly established field experiment at the University of Minnesota Research facility in Saint Paul. The experiment will use a randomized complete block design to examine the effects of crop N uptake and applied nitrogen fertilizer on greenhouse gas emissions. Objective 2b: During the reporting period, collaboration on nutrient leaching from a range of Minnesota agricultural soils has been developed in collaboration with the University of Minnesota. A test method to compare leaching losses of nitrogen and phosphorus has been developed and used to compare phosphorus losses from soils with soil test phosphorus levels ranging from high to low with initiation of leaching occurring at 0, 1, 3, and 7 days after application of a mineral P fertilizer. On a second round of tests, we are adding dairy manure as a P source and mineral N fertilizer to the mineral P fertilizer source so that both N and P leaching losses can be measured. The methodology varies in these respects from the written NP 212 plan: the soil columns are undisturbed rather than re-packed; soil depth is 15 cm rather than 30 cm; the fixed factors are soil type, initial soil test P, and timing of leaching event, rather than soil type, manure type, and manure rate; the tests were carried out under lab conditions. The soils were collected mostly from the same research locations in the NP 212 plan and include sandy loam, silt loam, clay loam, and clay textures. In addition, laboratory work has been completed to investigate the effect of temperature on nutrient release from dairy manure to water and on the effects of placement of dairy manure within a snowpack. A manuscript describing the results of this multi-ARS location study is in draft form. Accomplishments 01 Microbial gene ratios explain nitrous oxide dynamics. Nitrous oxide gas emissions from soil represent an economic loss of applied nitrogen fertilizer and also have important effects in the atmosphere. It is well-known that the nitrite molecule is an important regulator of soil nitrous oxide production. However, the behavior of nitrite under varying soil conditions cannot be readily predicted or managed. In this study, we closely examined the behavior of nitrite, nitrous oxide and microbial genes that regulate the transformation of urea fertilizer in eight different agricultural soil types from across the state of Minnesota. The results showed for the first time that the ratio of two microbial genes, amoA and nxrA, explained greater than 78% of the variance in cumulative nitrite and nitrous oxide production across all eight soils and five urea addition rates. The relationships found in this study provide a basis for scientists and land managers to develop improved process-based predictive models and more effective management strategies for reducing nitrous oxide losses from agricultural soils. 02 Tile drainage and delayed fertilizer application reduce nitrous oxide fluxes. Nitrous oxide has increased in concentration in the atmosphere by more than 20% since 1750, due largely to the application of fertilizers and manures. To date, no studies have evaluated nitrous oxide emissions under different combinations of fertilizer application timing and soil drainage conditions for corn. In this study, ARS scientists in St. Paul, Minnesota collaborated with University of Minnesota faculty on a two-year field experiment that compared nitrous oxide emissions following single, pre-plant fertilizer application versus a double, split fertilizer application with and without tile drainage. The split application also used microbial inhibitors designed to reduce microbial transformations of applied nitrogen. Averaged across years, the undrained soil emitted 1.8 times more nitrous oxide than the tile drained soil, and the double, split application emitted 26% less nitrous oxide than the single, pre-plant application with no grain yield differences. These results provide scientists and land managers with potential strategies for reducing losses of nitrous oxide emissions from fertilized soils.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Fernandez, F., Venterea, R.T., Fabrizzi, K. 2016. Corn nitrogen management influences nitrous oxide emissions in drained and undrained soils. Journal of Environmental Quality. 45(6):1847-1855. doi:10.2134/jeq2016.06.0237.
- Spokas, K.A., Watts, D.W., Lee, T., Weis, R.D., Novak, J.M., Feyereisen, G. W., Ippolito, J.A. 2016. Biomass or biochar � Which is better at improving hydraulic properties? Acta Horticulturae. 1146:235-242. doi: 10.17660/ ActaHortic.2016.1146.31.
- Laird, D.A., Novak, J.M., Collins, H.P., Ippolito, J.A., Karlen, D.L., Lentz, R.D., Sistani, K.R., Spokas, K.A., Van Pelt, R.S. 2016. Multi-year and multi-location soil quality and crop biomass yield responses to hardwood fast pyrolysis biochar. Geoderma. 289:46-53.
- Gamiz, B., Cox, L., Hermosin, M., Spokas, K.A., Celis, R. 2017. Assessing the effect of organoclays and biochar on the fate of abscisic acid in soil. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 65(1):29-38. doi:10.1021/acs. jafc.6b03668.
- Spokas, K.A., Marques, J., La Scala, N., Nater, E. 2017. Black Earths (Terra Preta): Observations of wider occurrence from natural fire. Encyclopedia of Soil Science. 3:2312�2315. Available:
- Wood, J.D., Griffis, T.J., Baker, J.M., Frankenburg, C., Verma, M., Yuen, K. 2017. Multiscale analyses of solar-induced florescence and gross primary production. Geophysical Research Letters. 44(1):533-541. doi:10. 1002/2016GL070775.
- Hall, K., Spokas, K.A., Gamizn, B., Cox, L., Papiernik, S.K., Koskinen, W. C. 2017. Glyphosate sorption/desorption on biochars � Interactions of physical and chemical processes. Pest Management Science. Available:
- Gamiz, B., Velardea, P., Spokas, K.A., Hermosin, M., Cox, L. 2017. Biochar soil additions impacts herbicide fate: Importance of application timing and feedstock species. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 65(15) :3109-3117. Available:
- Owens, J., Clough, T., Laubach, J., Hunt, J., Venterea, R.T. 2017. Nitrous oxide fluxes and soil oxygen dynamics of soil treated with cow urine. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 81(2):289-298. doi:10.2136/sssaj2016. 09.0277.
- Mehmood, K., Chavez Garcia, E., Schirrmann, M., Ladd, B., Kammann, C., Wrage-Monnig, N., Siebe, C., Estavillo, J.M., Fuertes-Mendizabal, T., Cayuela, M., Sigua, G.C., Spokas, K.A., Cowie, A.L., Novak, J.M., Ippolito, J.A., Borchard, N. 2017. Biochar research activities and their relation to development and environmental quality: A meta-analysis. Agronomy for Sustainable Development. doi:10.1007/s13593-017-0430-1.
- Kammann, C., Ippolito, J., Hagemann, N., Borchard, N., Cayuela, M., Estavillo, J., Fuertes-Mendizabal, T., Jeffery, S., Kern, J., Novak, J.M., Rasse, D., Saarnio, S., Schmidt, H., Spokas, K.A., Wrage-Monnig, N. 2017. Biochar as a tool to reduce the agricultural greenhouse-gas burden-knowns, unknowns, and future research needs. Journal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management. 25(02):114-139.
- Breuillin-Sessoms, F., Venterea, R.T., Sadowsky, M., Coulter, J., Clough, T., Wang, P. 2017. Nitrification gene ratio and free ammonia explain nitrite and nitrous oxide production in urea-amended soils. Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 111(1):143-153. doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2017.04.007.
- Feyereisen, G.W., Christianson, L.E., Moorman, T.B., Venterea, R.T., Coulter, J.A. 2017. Plastic biofilm carrier after corn cobs reduces nitrate loading in laboratory denitrifying bioreactors. Journal of Environmental Quality. 46(4):915-920. doi:10.2134/jeq2017.02.0060.
- Baker, J.M., Griffis, T.J. 2017. Atmospheric humidity. In: Hatfield, J.L., Sivakumar, M.V.K., Prueger, J.H., editors. Agroclimatology: Linking Agriculture to Climate. Madison, WI: ASA, CSSA, SSSA. p. 1-14 doi:10.2134/ agronmonogr60.2015.0031.
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