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Effects of bovine urinary nitrogen on the nitrogen cycle of a shortgrass prairie

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dc.contributor.authorStillwell, Mark A., author
dc.contributor.authorWoodmansee, Robert G., advisor
dc.contributor.authorRittenhouse, Larry R., committee member
dc.contributor.authorParton, William J., committee member
dc.contributor.authorPorter, Lynn K., committee member
dc.date.accessioned2016-05-09T14:54:10Z
dc.date.available2016-05-09T14:54:10Z
dc.date.issued1983
dc.description.abstractFree 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 nitrogen during the growing season and 91 kg of forage nitrogen during the dormant season. This was only 10% of peak standing crop of forage nitrogen. Ten percent of the nitrogen ingested during the study period was incorporated into body growth. Excreted nitrogen was partitioned between urine and feces at 54% and 46% for the growing season and 45% and 55% for the dormant season. This was a deposition rate of 1.6 kg N/ ha. for the pasture. The objective of the second field study was to determine the fate of urinary nitrogen once it was returned to various soils in a pasture. Simulated urine with l5N labeled urea was added at the rate of 45 g/m² to the soil at three sites on a catena. Urea hydrolysis was rapid at all sites with little urea remaining after four days. Over a 15 month period a sandy ridgetop and a clay swale soil retained about 70% of the added nitrogen. Only 40% was recovered from a midslope soil. Elevated calcium levels in the ridgetop and high clay content in the swale soil were important in the conservation of nitrogen. Cattle grazing was shown to be important in the N cycle by processing 10% of the standing N and depositing it in concentrated spots on the soil. Long term effects indicate that up to 50% of a community may be affected at any time.
dc.format.mediumdoctoral dissertations
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10217/172806
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherColorado State University. Libraries
dc.relationCatalog record number (MMS ID): 991005636449703361
dc.relationQH541.5.P7.S75 1983
dc.relation.ispartof1980-1999
dc.rightsCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
dc.subject.lcshGrassland ecology
dc.subject.lcshNitrogen cycle
dc.subject.lcshNitrogen excretion
dc.subject.lcshCattle
dc.titleEffects of bovine urinary nitrogen on the nitrogen cycle of a shortgrass prairie
dc.typeText
dcterms.rights.dplaThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
thesis.degree.disciplineRange Science
thesis.degree.grantorColorado State University
thesis.degree.levelDoctoral
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

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