Non-CO2 greenhouse gas fluxes in Australian landscapes
15-16 May 2007
The University of Melbourne
Abstract submission form
1) Topic
Measuring non-CO2 GHG fluxes
Non-CO2 GHG fluxes in Australian landscapes
 Processes controlling non-CO2 GHG fluxes
Modelling of non-CO2 GHG fluxes
2)
 Oral presentation
Poster presentation
3) Presenting author details
First Name
Family Name
Institution
Street
City / Suburb
State
Postcode
Phone
Email
Nanthi
Bolan
Centre for Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation
Mawson Blvd, Mawson Lakes
Adelaide
South Australia
5095
08 8302 5033
Nanthi.Bolan@unisa.edu.au
4) Presentation details
Authors
Rtia Bhandral, Nanthi Bolan, Surinder Saggar and Mike Hedley,
Title
Nitrogen transformation and nitrous oxide emissions from various
types of farm effluents
5) Manuscript submission to international journal for the Special Issue “Non-CO2 greenhouse
gas fluxes in Australian landscapes”
I intend to submit a manuscript
I will not submit a manuscript
Please use the template and the style of the abstract outlined on the next page.
Please send the abstract form and the abstract to:
Stephen Livesley
School of Forest and Ecosystem Science
The University of Melbourne
Water Street, Creswick VIC 3363
Phone: 0439 615 772
Fax 03 5321 4166
E-mail: sjlive@unimelb.edu.au
Nitrous oxide emissions from various types of farm effluents
R. Bhandral1, 3, S. Saggar2, N.S. Bolan1, 4 & M.J. Hedley1
1
Institute of Natural Resources, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand;
Landcare Research, Private Bag 11052, Palmerston North, New Zealand;
3
Present Address: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, PO Box 1000, Agassiz, BC, Canada,
V0M 1A0;
4
Present Address: Centre for Environmental Research, University of South Australia,
Adelaide, Australia.
2
With land disposal of the farm effluents as an accepted practice in New Zealand, concerns are
viewed for its effect on the nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. Moreover, due to high nutrient
content of many effluents, land application of effluents is considered a move towards
sustainable farming. Here we describe the results of a study undertaken to determine the
effect land application of different types of farm effluents (treated farm dairy effluent,
untreated farm dairy effluent, treated piggery farm effluent and treated meat effluent) on N 2O
emissions from soil following ‘autumn’ (27th February - 9th June, 2003) and ‘winter’ (9th July
- 2nd September, 2003) applications to field-plots (2m × 1m) established in a sheep-grazed
permanent legume-based pasture. Effluents were applied at a constant hydraulic loading of
25mm or 250 m3/ha. The amount of nitrogen and carbon added through effluent application
ranged from 13 - 61kgN/ha and 122 – 793 kg C/ha. N2O emissions were measured using
closed chamber technique. A number of soil properties including soil bulk density, water
filled pore space (WFPS), oxygen diffusion rate (ODR), mineral nitrogen (ammonium and
nitrate N) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were also measured to assess their correlation
with variation observed in N2O flux.
The emissions rate was affected by the type of the effluent with treated piggery farm
effluent emitting the highest (0.585 kg N2O-N ha-1 or 2.17% of the effluent-N) during autumn
application and treated meat effluent emitting the highest (0.286 kg N ha-1 or 0.84% of the
effluent-N added) during winter application. The differences in the N2O emissions among the
effluents were related to the difference in their C: N ratio. The N2O emissions rates returned
to pre-application within 2 and 3 weeks of autumn and winter effluent applications,
respectively. These results suggest the effect of effluent application on N2O emission is short
lived. Correlation studies indicate that N2O flux was affected by some of the soil properties
including WFPS, ODR and mineral N.