Decomposition of Dairy Manure Assessed in the Field by Monitoring Natural Abundance of 13C
Decomposition rate constants, k, for organic amendments in soil are generally determined from laboratory incubations. Whether these incubations can be extrapolated to field conditions is an open question. Reliable decay constants are necessary to predict the C sequestration potential of organic soil...
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| Published in | Soil Science Society of America journal Vol. 78; no. 6; pp. 1949 - 1952 |
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| Main Authors | , , , |
| Format | Journal Article |
| Language | English |
| Published |
The Soil Science Society of America, Inc
01.11.2014
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| Online Access | Get full text |
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| Summary: | Decomposition rate constants, k, for organic amendments in soil are generally determined from laboratory incubations. Whether these incubations can be extrapolated to field conditions is an open question. Reliable decay constants are necessary to predict the C sequestration potential of organic soil amendments. We applied fresh dairy manure from corn (Zea mays L. subsp. mays.)‐fed cows to sandy loam soil to characterize the decomposition and retention of manure under dryland field conditions. The δ13C of amended soil was analyzed over 114 d to determine k of the manure. The resulting k was 0.0642 d−1. At this rate, about 1% of the manure C remained in the soil after 10 wk. Literature reports of k for cattle manure from laboratory incubations bracketed our results. The use of native isotope abundance permitted the study of amendment decomposition under field conditions within a growing season and indicated that dairy manure contributed little to long‐term soil C storage. |
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| Bibliography: | All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Permission for printing and for reprinting the material contained herein has been obtained by the publisher. |
| ISSN: | 0361-5995 1435-0661 |
| DOI: | 10.2136/sssaj2014.02.0079n |