Can seasonal soil N mineralisation trends be leveraged to enhance pasture growth?

Bilotto, F and Harrison, M T and Migliorati, M D A and Christie, K M and Rowlings, D W and Grace, P R and Smith, A P and Rawnsley, R P and Thorburn, P J and Eckard, R J (2021) Can seasonal soil N mineralisation trends be leveraged to enhance pasture growth? Science of The Total Environment (TSI), 772. pp. 1-15. ISSN 0048-9697

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Abstract

SoilNmineralisation is the process bywhich organicN is converted into plant-available forms,while soil N immobilisation is the transformation of inorganic soil N into organicmatter and microbial biomass, thereafter becoming bio-unavailable to plants. Mechanistic models can be used to explore the contribution of mineralised or immobilised N to pasture growth through simulation of plant, soil and environment interactions driven by management. Purpose: Our objectiveswere (1) to compare the performance of three agro-ecosystemsmodels (APSIM, DayCent and DairyMod) in simulating soil N, pasture biomass and soil water using the same experimental data in three diverse environments (2), to determine if tactical application of N fertiliser in different seasons could be used to leverage seasonal trends in N mineralisation to influence pasture growth and (3), to explore the sensitivity of N mineralisation to changes in N fertilisation, cutting frequency and irrigation rate.

Item Type:	Article
Divisions:	Research Program : Innovation Systems for the Drylands (ISD)
CRP:	UNSPECIFIED
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Mineralisation, Immobilisation
Subjects:	Others > Soil Fertility Others > Soil Science
Depositing User:	Mr Arun S
Date Deposited:	26 May 2021 10:58
Last Modified:	26 May 2021 10:58
URI:	http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/11819
Official URL:	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145031
Projects:	UNSPECIFIED
Funders:	UNSPECIFIED
Acknowledgement:	The authors would like to thank Warwick Dougherty and Graeme Ward for the experimental datasets used in this work. The ‘More Profit from Nitrogen: enhancing the nutrient use efficiency of intensive cropping and pasture systems’ project was supported by funding from Dairy Australia and the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (RRDP1716) as part of its Rural R&D for Profit program.
Links:	Google Scholar

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