Effects of bovine urinary nitrogen on the nitrogen cycle of a shortgrass prairie
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Abstract
Free grazing ungulates were hypothesized to exert a significant influence on the nitrogen cycle of a grazed shortgrass prairie ecosystem. Two field studies were performed from May 1980 through March 1982 in shortgrass prairie pastures at the Central Plains Experimental Range northeast of Fort Collins, Colorado. The objective of the first study was to quantify seasonal variation in nitrogen ingested by free grazing heifers and the partitioning of the ingested nitrogen among urine, feces, and storage in animal bodies. A herd of eight yearling heifers in a 125 ha. pasture consumed 116 kg of forage ...
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