Factors influencing ammonia volatilization from urea in soils of the shortgrass steppe

1573-0662

Volatilization ; hydrolysis ; urea ; ammonia ; landscape ; water loss ; abiotic controls ; gas flux

Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000

Chemistry and Pharmacology

Geosciences

Abstract The effects of soil moisture, temperature, and humidity treatments on urea hydrolysis and NH3 volatilization were assessed in the laboratory. Field studies were conducted to determine seasonal NH3 losses from simulated urine patches applied to contrasting soils of a representative hillslope of the shortgrass steppe region in the North American Great Plains. Losses of NH3−N were most influenced by soil moisture. The effects of temperature and humidity on total, or temporal, losses of NH3 were dependent on soil moisture. Losses ranged from 18.5% under conditions of low-temperature/high-humidity/wet soil to 7.7% under conditions of high-temperature/low-humidity/dry soil. In contrast, urea hydrolysis was not affected by soil moisture. Losses of NH3−N from simulated urine applied to field plots ranged from 1.5% on footslope soils in summer to 14.1% on backslope (midslope) soils in summer, whereas losses were 8.1% on back-slope soils in winter. Factors such as soil texture, microbial activity, and plant productivity along a toposequence had larger effects than climatic variables on variation in the volatile losses of NH3−N from this grassland.

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