Summary
Ammonium nitrate fertilizer, labelled with15N, was applied in spring to winter wheat growing in undisturbed monoliths of clay and sandy loam soil in lysimeters; the rates of application were respectively 95 and 102 kg N ha−1 in the spring of 1976 and 1975. Crops of winter wheat, oilseed rape, peas and barley grown in the following 5 or 6 years were treated with unlabelled nitrogen fertilizer at rates recommended for maximum yields. During each year of the experiments the lysimeters were divided into treatments which were either freelydrained or subjected to periods of waterlogging. Another labelled nitrogen application was made in 1980 to a separate group of lysimeters with a clay soil and a winter wheat crop to study further the uptake of nitrogen fertilizer in relation to waterlogging.
In the first growing season, shoots of the winter wheat at harvest contained 46 and 58% of the fertilizer nitrogen applied to the clay and sandy loam soils respectively. In the following year the crops contained a further 1–2% of the labelled fertilizer, and after 5 and 6 years the total recoveries of labelled fertilizer in the crops were 49 and 62% on the clay and sandy loam soils respectively.
In the first winter after the labelled fertilizer was applied, less than 1% of the fertilizer was lost in the drainage water, and only about 2% of the total nitrogen (mainly nitrate) in the drainage water from both soils was derived from the fertilizer. Maximum annual loss occurred the following year but the proportion of tracer nitrogen in drainage was nevertheless smaller. Leaching losses over the 5 and 6 years from the clay and sandy loam soil were respectively 1.3 and 3.9% of the original application.
On both soils the percentage of labelled nitrogen to the total crop nitrogen content was greater after a period of winter waterlogging than for freely-drained treatments. This was most marked on the clay soil; evidence points to winter waterlogging promoting denitrification and the consequent loss of soil nitrogen making the crop more dependent on spring fertilizer applications.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Belford R K 1979 Collection and evaluation of large soil monoliths for soil and crop studies. J. Soil Sci. 30, 363–373.
Belford R K 1981 Response of winter wheat to prolonged waterlogging under outdoor conditions. J. Agric. Sci. Cambridge 97, 557–568.
Belford R K, Cannell R Q, Thomson R J and Dennis C W 1980 Effects of waterlogging at different stages of development on the growth and yield of peas (Pisum sativum L) J. Sci. Fd. Agric. 31, 857–869.
Belford R K, Cannell R Q and Thomson R J 1985 Effects of single and multiple waterlogging on the growth and yield of winter wheat on a clay soil. J. Sci. Fd. Agric. 36, 142–156.
Benqian B and Lane P 1979 Some relationships between grain yield and grain protein of wheat experiments in south-east England and comparisons with such relationships elsewhere. J. Sci. Fd. Agric. 30, 59–70.
Bouma J 1984 Using soil morphology to develop measurement methods and simulation techniques for water movement in heavy clay soils.In Proceedings of ISSS Sympsoium on Water and Solute Movement in Heavy Clay Soils. Eds J Bouma and P A C Raats, pp 298–315.
Brewer P G, Chan K M and Riley J P 1965 Automatic determination of certain micronutrients in sea water.In Automation of Analytical Chemistry. Ed L T Skeggs. Technicon Symposium pp 308–314.
Cannell R Q and Belford R K 1980 Effects of waterlogging on the growth and yield of oilseed rape (Brassica napus L). J. Sci. Fd. Agric. 31, 963–965.
Cannell R Q, Belford R K, Gales K and Dennis C W 1980 A lysimeter system used to study the effect of transient waterlogging on crop growth and yield. J. Sci. Fd. Agric. 31, 105–116.
Cannell R Q, Belford R K, Gales K, Dennis C W and Prew R D 1980 Effects of water-logging at different stages of development on the growth and yield of winter wheat. J. Sci. Fd. Agric. 31, 117–132.
Cannell R Q and Jackson M B 1981 Alleviating aeration stresses.In Modifying the Root Environment to Reduce Crop Stresses. Eds. G F Arkin and H M Taylor. Am. Soc. Agric. Engrs. St Joseph, Michigan, pp 139–192.
Church B M and Lewis D A 1977 Fertilizer use on farm crops in England and Wales: Information from the survey of fertilizer practice, 1942–1976. Outlook Agric. 9, 186–193.
Cooke G W 1976 A review of the effects of agriculture on the chemical composition and quality of surface and underground water.In Agriculture and Water Quality, M.A.F.F. Tech. Bull., No. 32, pp 5–57.
Dowdell R J and Crees R 1980 The uptake of15N-labelled fertilizer by winter wheat and its immobilization in a clay soil after direct drilling or ploughing. J. Sci. Fd. Agric. 31, 992–996.
Dowdell R J and Webster C P 1980 A lysimeter study using nitrogen-15 on the uptake of fertilizer nitrogen by perennial ryegrass swards and losses by leaching. J. Soil Sci. 31, 1–11.
Dowdell R J, Webster C P, Hill D and Mercer E R 1984 A lysimeter study of the fate of fertilizer nitrogen in spring barley crops grown on shallow soil overlying chalk: crop uptake and leaching losses. J. Soil Sci. 35, 169–181.
Edwards A P and Hauck R D 1974 Nitrogen-15 depletedversus nitrogen-15 enriched ammonium sulphate as tracers in nitrogen uptake studies Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 38, 765–767.
Harris G L, Goss M J, Dowdell R J, Howse K R and Morgan A 1984 A study of mole drainage with simplified cultivation for autumn-sown crops on a clay soil. 2. Soil water regimes, water balances and nutrient loss in drainage water 1978–80. J. Agric. Sci., Camb. 102, 561–581.
Jenkinson D S, Johnston A E, Powlson D S, Pruden G and Williams A H 1981 Recovery of15N-labelled fertiliser by winter wheat on Broadbalk.In Rothamsted Experimental Station Annual Report for 1980, Part 1, pp 247–248.
Johnston A E 1976 Additions and removals of nitrogen and phosphorus in long-term experiments at Rothamsted and Woburn and the effect of the residues on total soil nitrogen and phosphorus.In Agriculture and Water Quality, M.A.F.F. Tech. Bull., No. 32, pp 111–144.
Kolenbrander G J 1969 Nitrate content and nitrogen loss in water. Neth. J. Agric. Sci. 17, 246–255.
Overrein L N 1968 Lysimeter studies on tracer nitrogen in forest soil. I. Nitrogen losses by leaching and volatilization after addition of urea-N15. Soil Sci. 106, 280–290.
Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution 1979. Chairman; Sir Hans Kornberg. Seventh Report Agriculture and Pollution, HMSO, London.
Smith L P and Trafford B D 1977 Climate and drainage. M.A.F.F. Tech. Bull., No. 34.
Thomas G W and Phillips R E 1979 Consequences of water movement in macropores. J. Environm. Qual. 8, 149–152.
Van Bavel C H M 1961 Lysimetric measurements of evapotranspiration rates in the Eastern United States. Proc. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. 25, 138–141.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Webster, C.P., Belford, R.K. & Cannell, R.Q. Crop uptake and leaching losses of15N labelled fertilizer nitrogen in relation to waterlogging of clay and sandy loam soils. Plant Soil 92, 89–101 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02372270
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02372270