Parametrization of organic nitrogen mineralization models in soil treated with swine raising wastewater

Abstract

Little is known about the mineralization dynamic of organic nitrogen contained in swine manure, so models need to be adjusted for its prediction. The objective of the present study was to parameterize and assess models of organic nitrogen mineralization in soil treated with swine raising wastewater (SRW) at different temperatures and water contents. Samples of 57.3 cm3 of dystrophic Red-Yellow Latosol were mixed with SRW at the application dose of 400 kg ha-1 nitrogen, placed in plastic cups and incubated at four different temperatures (15, 20, 25 and 35°C) and water contents corresponding to tensions of 10, 30, 200 and 1500 kPa. Samples were removed from the incubated soil after 3, 6, 12, 24, 48 and 96 days to quantify the ammonium and nitrate concentrations. The parameters of the soil organic nitrogen mineralization models were determined from the organic nitrogen mineralization values obtained over the different incubation periods. The value of the potentially mineralizable nitrogen (N0) in soil with application of SRW was superior that of the soil without application of SRW. The mineralization constant (k) in soil with application of SRW was always superior that of the soil without application of SRW. There was a tendency for the simple exponential model to underestimate the values of the mineralized nitrogen concentration. In most of the situations the potential model was more efficient than the simple exponential model to predict the mineralization of the organic nitrogen.