Influence of selected environmental and production factors on mineral nitrogen loss

Abstract

Nitrogen, an indispensable component of living organisms can exert a negative impact on various elements of the environment. The study objective is to identify the correlation between certain environment and production factors and mineral nitrogen content in the 60–90 cm soil layer, recognised as a potential loss of this ingredient from the production and economic perspective and as a hazard to water quality. The study is based on the results obtained from 320 points (a total of 2560 samples from the 0–30, 30–60 and 60–90 cm layers), located in mineral soils in the Lublin Province, as part of a Nmin monitoring project in the years 2008–2011. The soil material was collected in the spring and autumn, Nmin content was determined using (the spectrophotometric method) against the background of precipitation and air temperature and groups of crop plants, fertilisation and animal stock at farms where measurement points were located. Livestock and crop cultivation had the greatest impact on Nmin loss. There was no significant impact of the weather conditions and N doses in the mineral fertilizers in the spring measurement period. In contrast, the correlations with the analysed factors were stronger in the autumn.

Keywords

• mineral nitrogen
• nitrogen loss
• production factors
• weather conditions