Nitrate losses from fertilised short rotation willow - a preliminary evaluation of two years data
- WRc, Buckinghamshire (United Kingdom)
The contamination of surface and ground waters arising from fertiliser use and livestock husbandry is arousing increasing concern and legislative controls on nitrogen application in vulnerable areas are being applied across the European Union. The production of wood on agricultural land is increasing as farmers diversify away from food crops. One crop which is attracting significant interest amongst farmers is the production of fuel from intensively planted willow and poplar grown on short rotations, referred to as short rotation forestry (SRF). The management of these crops is substantially less intensive than that employed in traditional agriculture. However, concerns over the potential environmental impact of the large-scale development of SRF have prompted the investigation of its water usage and influence on water quality. The opportunity was taken to conduct a preliminary investigation of nitrate leaching losses from intensively planted willow through the monitoring of a trial established to examine the fertiliser response of the crop. Two years data are reported in the poster presentation. Soil pore water samples were collected over two winters using porous ceramic suction samples installed vertically to a depth of 0.75 m beneath 18 month old stools of Salix dasyclados to which 172m{sup -3} ha{sup -1} equivalent of sewage sludge was applied in May 1993. Samplers were also installed in unfertilised control plots. Stools were spaced to give stocking densities of 20,000, 10,000 and 6,600 ha{sup -1}. Sampling commenced in November 1993 and continued at two to four week intervals until the end of May 1994. The process was repeated over the winter of 1994/95. Nitrate concentrations in soil pore water was significantly higher in the fertilised plots than under the unfertilised control in both years. However, differences were no longer significant at the end of the sampling period in either year.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 115244
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/CP-200-8098; CONF-9508104-; ON: DE95009230; TRN: 95:006736-0023
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2. meeting on biomass of the Americas, Portland, OR (United States), 21-24 Aug 1995; Other Information: PBD: [1995]; Related Information: Is Part Of Second biomass conference of the Americas: Energy, environment, agriculture, and industry. Proceedings; PB: 1741 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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