Deep soil nitrogen storage slows nitrate leaching through the vadose zone.

ABSTRACT: Nitrogen (N) fertilizer applications are important for agricultural yield, yet not all the applied N is taken up by crops, leading to surplus N storage in soil or leaching to groundwater and surface water. Leaching loss of fertilizer N represents a cost for farmers and has consequences for human health and the environment, especially in the southern Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA, where groundwater nitrate contamination is prevalent. While improved nutrient management and conservation practices have been implemented to minimize leaching, nitrate levels in groundwater continue to increase in many long-term monitoring wells. To elucidate controls on leaching rates and N dynamics in agricultural soils across soil depths, and in response to seasonal and annual variation in management (e.g., fe

SUBMITTER: Weitzman JN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8988158 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature