330-15 Nitrate Leaching As Affected by Soil Type and Controlled Release or Modified N Sources.



Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Henry Gonzalez Convention Center, Hall C, Street Level

Kim Pope1, Elizabeth Guertal2, Chris Derrick3 and J.S. McElroy3, (1)Auburn University, Auburn, AL
(2)Agronomy and Soils, Auburn University, Auburn, AL
(3)Agrium Advanced Technologies, U.S. Incorp., Sylacauga, AL
Although nitrogen (N) leaching studies are plentiful in the turfgrass literature, newer controlled and/or ‘stabilized’ N release technologies require continued study to examine the impact of these new products on N loss from turfgrass. The objective was to examine N loss from small-scale leachate collection chambers as affected by N source and soil type. The two-year study was conducted small scale (1 m x ½ m) leachate collection chambers. In 2008, each of 16 units was filled with the soil types: 1) Marvyn loamy sand, 2) washed sand, and, 3) Sumter clay. The same soil and bins were used in 2008 and 2009. Fertilizers: 1) Urea (46-0-0), 2) UMaxx® (47-0-0), 3) Polyon® (43-0-0), and, 4) an unfertilized control. Fertilizers were applied at 7.3 g m-2 in July of each year. In each week: 1) leachate volume was determined, 2) a leachate subsample was analyzed for nitrate, ammonium and urea, and, 3) a soil sample was analyzed for soil nitrate and ammonium. In the Sumter soil, nitrate-N or ammonium-N in leachate was unaffected by fertilizer source. In the sand and Marvyn loamy sand the trend for nitrate-N in leachate was in the order (from most to least): Urea = UMaxx > Polyon > urea. In the sand plots total nitrate-N leached from urea-plots was significantly greater than that measured in the unfertilized plots, while total nitrate-N leached from the Polyon or UMaxx fertilized plots was not significantly greater than that measured in the control. Cumulative urea-N leached was typically low.
See more from this Division: C05 Turfgrass Science
See more from this Session: Turfgrass Ecology, Pest Management, and the Environment