UUttaahh SSttaattee UUnniivveerrssiittyy DDiiggiittaallCCoommmmoonnss@@UUSSUU All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 5-1963 TThhee EEffffeecctt ooff UUrreeaa,, AAmmmmoonniiuumm SSuullffaattee,, aanndd OOrrggaanniicc MMaatteerriiaallss oonn NNiittrriittee AAccccuummuullaattiioonn aanndd GGaasseeoouuss LLoossss ooff NNiittrrooggeenn iinn AAcciidd SSooiill Siddangouda V. Patil Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd Part of the Other Plant Sciences Commons RReeccoommmmeennddeedd CCiittaattiioonn Patil, Siddangouda V., "The Effect of Urea, Ammonium Sulfate, and Organic Materials on Nitrite Accumulation and Gaseous Loss of Nitrogen in Acid Soil" (1963). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 3807. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/3807 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. T.!E ITFEC'f C" l:illr, A:~:omuJ: SULF'l.TE, AJD ORGANIC MATERIALS 0!' NI TniT~ ACCll .. U:U. T 1C1. ,,J D GI,SEOUS LOSS OF lJI J1WG£ I; Ill l ClD SOIL hy Siddangnudc. V. Patil A dissertation ~·1b!'litted in ;J<-'lrtial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PIIILOSOHIY in Soil Fertility UTJ,~, Si"T;;; LiNIVE!lSJTY L ._:1<', TJtah AC KNO\'ILE!NMENTS I express my deep appreciation and gratitude to Dr. R. L. Smith for his encouragement and helpful counsel throu~hout the study and in writing the thesis. Gratitude is expressed to Dr, H. B. Peterson, Dr. Hennan H. \'fiebe, and Dr. Keith R. Allred for their valuable sug gestions and help in l!'.any ways. My sincere thanks are due to Arden Christiansen for his help in setting up some of the exiEriments, I am grateful to the Rockefeller Foundation for the award of a scholarship which made it possible for me to come to the United States of America and pursue my studies, and to the government of Mysore, India, for the grant of a study leave. I also express my appreciation to my wife, Mrs. Sundra PatiJ.. for her encouragement to pursue my studies in the United States. s. v. Patil I TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 1 REVIEif OF LITERATURE 3 Loss of tl arising as a result of nitrite occurrence 3 Accumulation of nitrite in soil 4 Conditions leading to nitrite accumulation and nitrogen loss from acid soils 6 Different mechanisms of N loss from soils 7 STATEMENT OF '!HE PROBLEM 12 MA TERlALS AND METHODS 14 Experimental plan 14 Experiment 1 14 Experiment 2 15 Experiment 3 16 Experiment 4 16 Soil preparation 16 Evacuation of air and filling the flasks with He-D mixture 17 2 Gas sampling 17 Soil analysis 18 pH 18 Nitrite and nitrate 18 Ammonium - N • 19 Total nitrogen 19 Trap analysis 19 Soil characteristics 19 llitrogen content of plant materials and manure 20 RESUW'S • 23 Experiments 1, 2, and 3 23 Soil reaction 23 Arr.monium nitrogen 26 Nitrite nitrogen 32 Nitrate nitrogen 36 Higher oxides of nitrogen 42 N evolution . 45 T2o tal nitrogen 47 Page so Experiment 4 Soil reaction, higher nitrogen oxides, and mineral so nitrogen so Soil reaction Ammonium nitrogen 52 Nitrite nitrogen 52 Nitrate nitrogen 52 Higher oxides of nitrogen 53 53 Nitrogen gas, N2 • 53 Nitrous oxide, N20 56 Total gaseous loss of nitrogen 57 Nitrogen transformations 57 DISCUSSION • 60 Nitrite accumulation 60 Nitrate formation . 63 Gaseous loss of nitrogen 65 Practical application of results 70 SU!.J&RY AND CONCLUSIONS 72 LITERATURE CITED 75 APPENDIX 79 llST OF TABLES Table Page 1. R1ysical and chemical characteristics of ·,ialla Walla soil 21 2. Total nitrogen content of plant materials and manure used in the Experiments 1 to 4 22 3. Changes in NH4- N content of Walla Walla soil treated with different crop residues, nanure, and 400 ppm nitrogen as a~~onium sulfate (Experiment 3) 31 4. Changes in 1102-H content of Walla ifalla soil treated with different crop residues, manure, and 400 ppm nitrogen as ammonium sulfate (Experiment 3) 37 5. Changes in NO)-N content of Walla Walla soil treated with different crop residues, manure, and 400 ppm nitrogen as ammonium sulfate (Experiment 3) 43 6. Higher oxides of nitrogen recoverL'd fron \'lalla Vfalla soil treated with alfalfa and 400 ppm nitrogen as urea or ammonium sulfate (Experiment l ) 44 7. f'igher oxides of nitrogen recovered from .lalla '.'lalla scil treated ·Nith alfalfa and 1000 pptr. nitrogen as urea or an::n')nium sulfate !Exoeri!"ent 2) 0. T1~naformation of added nitrogen in acidified Fort Collins soil treated vlit:c sodium nitrite, urea, ammonium sulfate, and alfalfa (Experiment 4) . 59 9. Changes in pH of '!lalla !'lalla soil treated with alfalfa and 400 ppm nitrogen as urea or ammonium sulfate (Experiment l) 80 10. Changes in rH of Walla Walla soil treated with alfalfa and 1000 ppm nitrogen as urea or ammonium sulfate (Experiment 2) so 11. Changes in pH of i'falla ;'lalla soil treated with crop residues, manure, and 400 ppm nitrogen as ammonium sulfate (Experiment 3) • 81 liH4 12. Changes in -!J with application of alfalfa and 400 ppm nitrogen as urea or al!'J'loniur> sulfate in '.'lalla Walla soil (Experiment l) • 82 13. Changes in NH4-N with the application of alfalfa and 1000 ppm nitrogen as urea or ammoniun sulfate (Experiment 2) 83 Table 14. Cl:anges in t:02-ll ·:1ith the application of alfalfa and 400 ppm nitrogen as urea or a=.onium sulfate in "lfalla Walla soil (Experi:nent 1) • 84 lS. Changes in !!02-N "!lith application of alfalfa and 1000 ;:>prr: nitrogen as urea or ammonium sulfate in Walla Walla soil (Experiment 2) • 05 16. Changes in !10)-N with the application of alfalfa and 400 ppm nitrogen as uraa or ammonium sulfate in W"alla Walla soil (Experiment 1) • 86 17. Changes in NOj"-!! with the application of alfalfa and 1000 ppm nitrogen as urea or ammonium sulfate in Walla Walla soLl (Experiment 2) • 87 18. Evolution of N from \'lalla i'!"alla soil treated with alfalfa 2 and 1000 ppm nltrogen as urea or ammonium sulfate (Experiment 2) • 88 19. Total nitrogen content of ·11alla Walla soil treated with alfalfa and 400 ppm nitrogen as urea or ammonium sulfate (Experiment 1) 88 20. Total nitrogen content of Vfalla Vfalla soil treated with ~lfalfa and 1000 ppm nitrogen as urea or ammonium sulfate (Experiment 2) • 89 21. The effect of 400 ppm nitrogen as sodium nitrite, urea, and ammonium sulfate and 1 percent alfalfa on the pH of acidified Fort Collins soil after 168 hours of incubation (Experiment 4) • 90 22. The effect of 4CO ppm nitrogen as sodi~:n nitrite, urea, and ammonium sulfate and 1 percent alfalfa on NHC-N content of acidified Fort Collins soil after 168 hours of incubation (Experiment 4) . 90 23. The effect of 400 ppm nitrogen as sodium nitrite, urea, and ammonium sulfate and 1 percent alfalfa on N02-N content of acidified Fort Collins soil after 168 hours of incubation (Experiment 4) • 91 24. The effect of 400 ppm nitrogen as sodium nitrite, urea, and ammonium sulfate and 1 percent alfalfa on NO)-N content of acidified Fort Collins soil after 168 hours of incubation (Experiment 4) • 91 25. The effect of application of 400 ppm nitrogen as sodium nitrite, urea, and a~monium sulfate and 1 percent alfalfa on the evolution of higher oxides of nitrogen from acidified Fort Collins soil during 168 hours of incubaticn (Experiment 4) • ?2 Table Page 26. The effect of application of 400 ppm nitrogen as sodium nitrite, urea, and ammonium sulfate and l percent alfalfa on N2 evolution from acidified Fort Collins soil (Experiment 4) • • • • • • • 93 27. The effect of application of 400 ppm nitrogen as sodium nitrite, urea, and ammonium sulfate and l percent alfalfa on N20 evolution from acidified Fort Collins soil (Experiment 4) • 94 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. The effect of 0.5 percent alfalfa and 400 ppm N as urea or ammonium sulfate on soil pH of Walla Walla soil (Experiment 1) . 24 2. The effect of 0.5 percent alfalfa and 1000 ppm N frof'l urea or ammonium sulfate on soil pH of Walla ·:lalla soil (E.xperiment 2) • 25 3. The effect of crop residues, manure, and 400 ppm N as ammonium sulfate on pH of Walla Walla soil (Experiment 3) 27 4. The effect of 0.5 percent alfalfa and 400 ppm N as urea or ammonium sulfate on the NH4-N content of ··ralle i'falla soil (Experiment 1) • • , • • • • , 28 5. The effect of 0.5 percent alfalfa and 1000 ppm N as urea or ammonium sulfate on NHi';-N content of Walla i'alla soil (Experiment 2} • • • • • • • • • , • . • 29 6. The effect of 4CO ppm N as urea or ammonium sulfate in the absence of alfalfa on the N02-N content of Walla ·,~alla soil (Experiment 1) • 33 7. The effect of 0.5 percent alfalfa and 400 ppm N as urea or ammonium sulfate on the N02-N content of Walla 'l{alla soil (Experiment 1) • . • • • , • • 34 8. The effect of 0.5 percent alfalfa and 1000 ppm N as urea or ammonium sulfate on N02-N content of Walla 17alla soil (Experiment 2} • 35 9. The effect of 400 ppm N as urea or ammonium sulfate in the absence of alfalfa on the NOj-N content of Walla Walla soil (Experiment 1) • 38 10, The effect of 0.5 percent alfalfa and 400 ppm N as urea or ammonium sulfate on N0_3-N content of Walla i'falla soil (Experiment 1) . • . • • • , • . . • • • 39 11. The effect of 0.5 percent alfalfa and 1000 ppm N as urea or ammonium sulfate on NOj-N content of 'll"alla Walla soil (Experiment 2) • 40 Figure Page 12. N2 evolution from Walla Walla soil treated with 0.5 percent alfalfa and 1000 ppm N as urea or ammonium sulfate (Experiment 2) 46 lJ. Total nitrogen content of Walla Walla soil treated with 0.5 percent alfalfa and 400 ppm N as urea or ammonium sulfate (Experiment l) 48 4. Total nitrogen content of Vfalla Yfalla soil treated with 0.5 percent alfalfa and 1000 ppm N as urea or anmonium sulfate (Experiment 2) • 49 15. Tle effect of 1 percent alfalfa and 400 ppm N as urea or ammonium sulfate in combination with 400 ppm N from sodium nitrite on soil reaction, higher oxides of nitrogen, and mineral nitrogen content of acidified Fort Collins soil after 168 hours (Experiment 4) 51 16. The effect of 1 percent of alfalfa and 400 ppm N as urea or ammonium sulfate on N2 evolution from acidified Fort Collins soil initially treated with 400 ppm N as sodium nitrite (Experiment 4) . 54 17. The effect of 1 percent alfalfa and 400 ppm N as urea or ammonium sulfate on N2o evolution from acidified Fort Collins soil initially treated with 400 ppm N as sodium nitrite (Experiment 4) • 55 18. Total gaseous loss of nitrogen (N2 + NO + N02 + N20) from acidified Fort Collins soil (Experiment 4) 58
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