Slurry and urea applications are part of normal
nutrient management on grassland farms utilizing grazed grass and silage for
animal production. It was hypothesized that management history would result in
a different carbon response to slurry and urea applications for the same soil
type because of differences in soil micro-environment, including microbial
biomass and activity, are formed and regulated by long-term management history.
An Irish grassland soil of the Skeagh Series was sampled in three fields, each
with a long, consistent management history: Soil A was associated with
extensive grazing by horses; soil B with medium intensity grazing by sheep and
cattle, and grass silage conservation; and soil C with intensive dairy cow
grazing. There were three slurry treatments (S1, the control of no
slurry; S2, slurry mixed with soil; S3, slurry added on
the soil surface) and three urea treatments (N1, the control of no
urea; N2, all urea applied at one time; and N3, three
application, 30 days apart, totaling the same amount of urea as N2)
designed to supply 36 g C m﹣2 and 2 g N m﹣2 during an 85
day incubation trial. Soil pH, total carbon, cold water extractable organic
carbon, soil respiration and two C-related enzymes (β-glucosidase and CM-cellulase) were measured. All measured soil
properties showed a significant difference (P<
0.05) by management history, indicating a strong influence of long-term
management on response. β-glucosidase
and CM-cellulase activity showed a strong relationship with soil management
history rather than with slurry or urea additions. It was concluded that
management history was important to C dynamics. Slurry mixed with soil resulted
in a greater soil carbon loss than slurry applied on the soil surface. One
large dose of urea caused greater soil carbon loss than multiple small doses.
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