Dissolved organic nitrogen: an overlooked pathway of nitrogen loss from agricultural systems?
Conventional wisdom postulates that leaching losses of N from agriculture systems are dominated by NO(3)(-). Although the export of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) into the groundwater has been recognized for more than 100 yr, it is often ignored when total N budgets are constructed. Leaching of DON into stream and drinking water reservoirs leads to eutrophication and acidification, and can pose a potential risk to human health. The main objective of this review was to determine whether DON losses from agricultural systems are significant, and to what extent they pose a risk to human health and the environment. Dissolved organic N losses across agricultural systems varied widely with minimum losses of 0.3 kg DON ha(-1)yr(-1) in a pasture to a maximum loss of 127 kg DON ha(-1)yr(-1) in a grassland following the application of urine. The mean and median values for DON leaching losses were found to be 12.7 and 4.0 kg N ha(-1)yr(-1), respectively. On average, DON losses accounted for 26% of the total soluble N (NO(3)(-) plus DON) losses, with a median value of 19%. With a few exceptions, DON concentrations exceeded the criteria recommendations for drinking water quality. The extent of DON losses increased with increasing precipitation/irrigation, higher total inputs of N, and increasing sand content. It is concluded that DON leaching can be an important N loss pathway from agricultural systems. Models used to simulate and predict N losses from agricultural systems should include DON losses.
van Kessel
Chris
C
Dep. of Plant Sciences, Univ. of California-Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA. cvankessel@ucdavis.edu
Clough
Tim
T
van Groenigen
Jan Willem
JW
D000383:Agriculture; D006801:Humans; D009566:Nitrates / Q000737:chemistry*; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000737:chemistry; D012987:Soil / Q000032:analysis; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
D009566:Nitrates; D012987:Soil; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D009584:Nitrogen