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Ammonia Volatilization from Liquid Hog Manure Amended with Paper Products in the Laboratory
Author(s) -
Subair S.,
Fyles J. W.,
O'Halloran I. P.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq1999.00472425002800010024x
Subject(s) - volatilisation , ammonia volatilization from urea , chemistry , manure , ammonia , mineralization (soil science) , environmental chemistry , liquid manure , lignin , nitrogen , pulp and paper industry , agronomy , organic chemistry , biology , engineering
Losses of N from livestock operations due to ammonia (NH 3 ) volatilization from animal wastes is a major source of pollution in Europe and North America, and represents a significant economic loss. Paper products have potential as amendments to reduce NH 3 loss because their high carbon (C) and low nitrogen (N) contents would be expected to cause N immobilization. Reduction in NH 3 volatilization from liquid hog manure (LHM) by paper bag (PB), filter paper (FP), newsprint (NP), and pulp sludge (PS) added at 2.5 and 5% (fresh LHM weight) was evaluated in a 56 d incubation study. Cumulative NH 3 volatilization ranged between 28 and 53% of initial manure N. When the rate increased from 2.5 to 5%, NH 3 volatilization was reduced by 47, 40, 37, and 29%, respectively, compared to the control. Increasing the rate increased the amount of C lost from the LHM and reduced the net mineralization of organic N. Hence, the addition of organic amendments appeared to have decreased NH 3 volatilization by increasing microbial activity and N immobilization. Liquid hog manure pH was negatively correlated with C loss, indicating that microbial decomposition of paper amendments lowered manure pH but this effect did not appear to be important in controlling NH 3 volatilization. Paper lignin content was not correlated with the loss of C, manure pH, or NH 3 volatilization, suggesting that the effectiveness of paper products in reducing NH 3 volatilization is not controlled by lignin content but rather by other more labile components.