Laboratory and field evaluation of broiler litter nitrogen mineralization

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Bioresource Technology 99 (2008) 2603–2611

Laboratory and field evaluation of broiler litter nitrogen mineralization

K.R. Sistani *, A. Adeli, S.L. McGowen, H. Tewolde, G.E. Brink

USDA-ARS Animal Waste Management Research Unit, Bowling Green, KY 42104, USA

Received 24 April 2006; received in revised form 18 April 2007; accepted 19 April 2007Available online 2 July 2007

Abstract

Two studies were conducted for this research. First, a laboratory incubation to quantify broiler litter N mineralization with the fol-lowing treatments: two soil moisture regimes, constant at 60% water fill pore space (WFPS) and fluctuating (60–30% WFPS), three soiltypes, Brooksville silty clay loam, Ruston sandy loam from Mississippi, and Catlin silt loam from Illinois. Second, a field incubationstudy to quantify broiler litter N mineralization using similar soils and litter application rates as the laboratory incubation. Broiler litterwas applied at an equivalent rate of 350 kg total N ha�1 for both studies except for control treatments. Subsamples were taken at dif-ferent timing for both experiments for NO3–N and NH4–N determinations. In the laboratory experiment, soil moisture regimes hadno significant impact on litter-derived inorganic N. Total litter-derived inorganic N across all treatments increased from 23 mg kg�1

at time 0, to 159 mg kg�1 at 93 d after litter application. Significant differences were observed among the soil types. Net litter-derivedinorganic N was greater for Brooksville followed by Ruston and Catlin soils. For both studies and all soils, NH4–N content decreasedwhile NO3–N content increased indicating a rapid nitrification of the mineralized litter N. Litter mineralization in the field study followedthe same trend as the laboratory study but resulted in much lower net inorganic N, presumably due to environmental conditions such asprecipitation and temperature, which may have resulted in more denitrification and immobilization of mineralized litter N. Litter-derivedinorganic N from the field study was greater for Ruston than Brooksville. Due to no impact by soil moisture regimes, additional studiesare warranted in order to develop predictive relationships to quantify broiler litter N availability.Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords: Nitrogen; Broiler litter; Poultry manure; Mineralization

1. Introduction

Nitrogen (N) availability to plants from animal manureis dependent on the rate of organic N conversion to inor-ganic N(NO3–N and NH4–N). Management practices thatoptimize transformation and recycling of manure-derivedN to crops are critical under field conditions for N use effi-ciency in many cropping systems (Honeycutt, 1999). Vari-ation in soil chemical and physical properties combinedwith extensive climatic and agricultural diversity acrossthe US necessitates investigation of N mineralization ona regional scale (Van Veen and Kuikman, 1990; Sorensenand Jensen, 1995). It is difficult to predict the availabilityof manure N to plants since both N transformation/turn-

0960-8524/$ - see front matter Published by Elsevier Ltd.

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2007.04.069

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 270 781 2260x222.E-mail address: [email protected] (K.R. Sistani).

over processes and losses influence availability. Previouswork has shown that the chemical composition of animalmanure can affect the amount of net N mineralized frommanure (Bitzer and Sims, 1988; Serna and Pomares,1991; Gordillo and Cabrera, 1997a). However, limited evi-dence suggests that soil properties may also affect theamount of net N mineralized from manure (Castellanosand Pratt, 1981; Chae and Tabatabai, 1986). AlthoughChae and Tabatabai (1986) studied five Iowa soils and con-cluded that net N mineralized from manure depends on thechemical and physical makeup of the soils, they did notattempt to identify the soil properties responsible for theobserved differences.

The importance of environmental conditions such astemperature, water, and aeration on microbial activitiesand consequently N turnover is well documented (Pauland Clark, 1989; Griffin and Honeycutt, 2000). Soil water

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2604 K.R. Sistani et al. / Bioresource Technology 99 (2008) 2603–2611

content has great impact on the decomposition and trans-formation of nutrients (Doel et al., 1990). In a wide rangeof soils, maximum aerobic microbial activities occur when60% of the soil pore spaces are filled with water (Linn andDoran, 1984). The transformation processes of N from aspecific animal manure are controlled largely by three fac-tors: soil water status, soil type, and soil temperature(Hadas et al., 1983; Griffin et al., 2002). Manure N trans-formation is greatly impacted by soil water content; forexample formation of N2O can take place under high soilwater conditions (Linn and Doran, 1984; Weir et al.,1993; Maag and Vinther, 1999). Linn and Doran (1984)demonstrated that denitrification is favored when water-filled pore space (WFPS) is about 70–100%. Appel (1998)reported greater N mineralization in 8 of 10 soils followingdrying-rewetting than for soils under moist conditions. Healso reported that under undried soil conditions, minerali-zation was greater with lighter texture soils. UnderstandingN mineralization/immobilization processes is important inorder to accurately predict the net availability of manure Nto crops (Sorensen, 2001). Extrapolation of laboratoryderived N mineralization values to the field may not bedesirable because mineralization processes can be affectedby a number of dynamics and site specific factors (Sims,1990; Sierra, 1997). Few studies have compared N mineral-ization estimates between laboratory incubation and fieldstudies. Our objective was to conduct laboratory and fieldincubation studies to evaluate individual and interactiveeffects of soil water status and soil type on broiler litterN mineralization in Brooksville and Ruston soils fromthe Southeast US and Catlin soil from the Central US.

2. Methods

Soils for the laboratory and field studies were collectedfrom topsoil of a Ruston sandy loam (Fine-loamy, sili-ceous, semiactive, thermic typic Paleudults) in Mize, MS;a Brooksville silty clay loam (Fine, smectitic, thermic aquitHapluderts) in Macon, MS; and a Catlin silt loam (Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic, Oxyaquic Argiudolls) fromChampaign, IL. The Catlin soil was used because it is com-monly used by several other cooperating USDA-ARS lab-oratories on this nationally coordinated project. Selectedsoils represent some of the main soil types for each region.

At each site, soil was collected from the top 20 cm, air-dried, sieved (2 mm), and prepared for initial physical andchemical analyses. Soils were extracted with 2 M KCI at1:10 ratio for 1 h, filtered and analyzed for NO3–N andNH4–N (Mulvaey, 1996) using Lachat Quikchem FIA+

8000 instrument (Loveland, CO). Soil and litter total Nand C were measured by dry combustion using a CE Elan-tech CN analyzer (Lakewood, NJ). Soil pH was measuredin a 1:1 soil:water ratio using 10 g of soil to 10 ml of deion-ized water. Soil bulk density was determined on undis-turbed cores of each soil (Grossman and Reinsch, 2002).Soil particle size was determined according to Day et al.(1965).

2.1. Laboratory study

This study included three soil types, two wetting/dryingregimes, two fertility treatments (with and without broilerlitter), and three replications in a factorial arrangementunder a constant temperature. A 250 g oven-dry equivalentsoil from each soil type was preincubated in wide-mouth, 2-L canning jars. Water content of each soil was adjusted to45% water filled pore space (WFPS) using a misting system.Use of the WFPS concept avoids logistical difficulties ofmaintaining different soils at a given water potential andis widely applicable across soils for establishing optimalaerobic microbial activity and minimizing denitrificationlosses. It is calculated as follows:

WFPS = (soil gravimetric water content X bulk den-sity)/[1 � (bulk density/particle density)] (Linn and Doran,1984; Honeycutt et al., 2005b). Soils were thoroughlymixed and gently packed to initial bulk density of 1.2 g/cm3 and were placed in an incubator maintained at a con-stant temperature of 25 �C. Soils were preincubated for oneweek prior to manure application. Jars were kept closedexcept when aerated for 1 h per day. Soils were correctedfor any water loss by weighing each jar plus soil every 1–3 d and gravimetrically adding distilled water with a plantmisting bottle.

Broiler litter was air dried, ground, weighed, and incor-porated into one-half of the soils in an amount calculatedto supply 200 mg total N kg�1 dry soil (equivalent to350 kg total N ha�1). Untreated soils were mixed in thesame manner as the treated soils. All soils were then care-fully packed to the initial bulk density. Distilled water wasadded to soils and soil plus manure treatments in anamount corresponding to 60% WFPS (while accountingfor water added in manure).

Soils were maintained under two wetting/dryingregimes: (a) constant 60% WFPS and (b) fluctuatingbetween 60% and 30% WFPS. Soils maintained at 60%WFPS were kept covered except for 1 h d�1, when the lidof each jar was removed to provide aeration. Soils main-tained at 60% WFPS were also weighed every 1–3 d, andsoil water content was adjusted as needed using the samemethod for the preincubation. For the fluctuating wet-ting/drying regime, two 1.25 cm diameter holes were drilledinto the corresponding jar lids to promote drying and soilswere weighed every 1–3 d. When soil in the fluctuating wet-ting/drying regime dried to 30% WFPS, it was then rew-etted to 60% WFPS with distilled water using a plantmisting bottle.

The initial soils and broiler litter selected properties arepresented in Table 1. Soils were first sampled immediatelyafter manure application (i.e. time = 0). Dates for each ofthe four subsequent samples were governed for a given soilby when the fluctuating wetting/drying regime reached 30%WFPS. Soils receiving the fluctuating wetting/dryingregime were sampled within 1 h after rewetting from 30%to 60% WFPS. Both variable and constant soil water jarswere sampled as a set. This procedure was followed for

Table 1Selected soils and broiler litter properties

Property Ruston Brooksville Catlin Broiler littera

Sand (%) 45 18.5 22.5Silt (%) 48 43.5 52.0Clay (%) 7 38.0 25.5

Texture SL SiCL SiL

pH 6.3 5.6 6.5 8.1Total N (g kg�1) 1.4 1.8 1.7 35.0Total C (g kg�1) 23.0 17.8 28.6 344.0NH4–N (mg kg�1) 41.2 1.1 21.4 4.46NO3–N (mg kg�1) 147.5 96.7 161.8 1.04

SL = sandy loam; SiCL = silty clay loam; SiL = silt loam.a The litter initial moisture content was 90 g kg�1.

K.R. Sistani et al. / Bioresource Technology 99 (2008) 2603–2611 2605

each of the following wetting/drying cycles. The mass ofsoil (oven-dry equivalent) removed at each sample datewas recorded to allow calculation of target weights corre-sponding to a soil’s designated water treatment regime.

At each sample date, two 1.4 cm diameter soil coreswere taken from the designated jar, bulked, and mixed. Soilsamples of 5.0 g was extracted with 50 mL 2 M KCI for 1 hof shaking time. Extracts were then filtered and analyzedfor NH4–N and NO�2 þ NO3–N. All inorganic N concen-trations are expressed on an oven-dry, elemental N basis.

Total N and C were measured by dry combustion. Soilwater content was gravimetrically determined on theremaining soil sample following drying at 105 �C for 24 h.

2.2. Field study

The field component was designed to compliment thelaboratory study by using the same soils (excluding Catlinsoil) and broiler litter. Data from the field study thereforeprovide a close verification of the laboratory litter N min-eralization. In brief, relatively undisturbed soil cores wereobtained using the microplot cylinders technique (Schna-bel, 1983) from the same soil/field area from which the soilfor the laboratory study was obtained. For each soil, 102cylinders (96 for treatments, 3 for monitoring temperature,and 3 for monitoring soil moisture) constructed with7.6 cm inside diameter, 8.3 cm outside diameter PVC pipe,each cut at 17.1 cm long were used. The microplot cylinderswere driven into the soil using a hammer and wood block.Each core was carefully lifted from the ground using a sho-vel underneath the core to prevent spillage. Efforts weremade to have the same volume of soil in each cylinder.The cylinders were capped on both ends, marked at thetop, stored upright and returned to the lab. In the labora-tory, microplot cylinders were constructed for manure-amended and unamended treatments by removing thesurface 4 cm of soil from a given cylinder into a container,and an appropriate amount of broiler litter was added toprovide an application rate of 350 kg N ha�1. After thor-oughly mixing the litter with soil, the mixture was gentlypacked into the cylinder. Control (unamended) soils were

handled in the same manner (i.e. removing, stirring, andrepacking the surface 4 cm), but without adding manure.Cloth bags containing anion exchange resin [J.T. Baker:A-554, C1� form, Type 2, Beads (16–50 mesh)] (25 g dryweight base) saturated with deionized water were thenplaced at the bottom of each cylinder and pressed slightlyto ensure soil to resin contact, and secured with a perfo-rated plastic end cap. The top plastic cap was replaced witha thin sheet of polyethylene (e.g. Saran wrap) secured by arubber band to minimize excessive drying and was removedlater. All cylinders (enough for the entire study) were thenreturned to the field (North farm, Mississippi State Univer-sity). A soil auger was used to dig the appropriate sizedholes to which the cylinders were inserted with the basefirmly contacting the soil. All cylinders were installed inthe field except for the first sampling date (day 0). The cyl-inder’s top edges were positioned slightly above the groundsurface to avoid runoff water into the cylinders. Cylinderswere maintained in fallow conditions (hand-weeding on adaily basis) thus avoiding plant nutrient uptake. Soil tem-perature and moisture content of the cylinders were contin-uously measured and recorded with a data logger. At eachsampling date, a shovel was used to carefully dig the cylin-ders from the ground. The cylinders were then placed in acooler containing ice packs and transported to the lab forprocessing. The first sampling date was at day 0 and takenimmediately after the treatments were applied in the lab.Treatments consisted of 1 soil · 2 fertility treatments (withand without broiler litter) · 8 sampling dates · 6 replica-tions = 96 experimental units. The experiment was con-ducted separately for Ruston and Brooksville soils atdifferent timings to allow for the timely sample collectionand analyses.

For each soil, a set of 12 microplot cylinders were col-lected and returned to the lab at 0, 3, 7, 14, 21, 28, 49,and 70 d after litter application. Resin bags were removedfrom the bottom of each cylinder and kept cool and moistfollowed by shaking with 250 ml of 2 M KCI for 60 min,filtered, and extracts were analyzed for NO3–NþNO�2 N.Soils from the cylinders were removed and mixed thor-oughly. One hundred ml 2 M KCI solution was added to10 g sieved (2 mm) soil and shaken for 60 min, filteredand analyzed for NO3–NþNO�2 N, and NH4–N and thenreported in mg N kg�1 soil. Soil water content was alsodetermined after drying at 105 �C for 48 h. The dataobtained was compared with the litter N availability mea-sured from the laboratory study. Further laboratory andfield studies are reported by Honeycutt et al. (2005b)because of the multi-location of the project.

2.3. Statistical analysis

Analysis of variance was used to analyze the data fromlaboratory and field experiments using PROC MIXED andSAS general linear models (GLM). Polynomial orthogonalcontrasts were applied to evaluate the linearity of the effectsof sampling time (SAS Institute, 1990; Little et al., 1996).

Table 2Analysis of variance and significant levels of the effects of soil moisture,soil type, and sampling time for total inorganic N (laboratory study)

Variables df Total inorganic N(NH4 + NO3) P > F

Sampling time (ST) 4 0.0376Soil (S) 2 0.0427ST · S 8 0.0452Moisture (M) 1 0.5338M · ST 2 0.0826M · ST · S 8 0.0657

Days after application

0 23 47 69 930

50

100

150

200

250

CatlinConstant moisture

Fluctuating moisture

LSD = 70.2

Bro

iler

litte

r (N

H4 +

NO

3), m

g kg

-1

Fig. 2. Litter-derived total inorganic N (control corrected) (mg kg�1) inrelation to two soil moisture regimes and incubated at 25 �C for Catlinsoil.

250

RustonConstant moisture k

g-1


The effect of soil moisture regimes on NO3–N and NH4–Nlevels at different sampling time (days after litter applica-tion) were evaluated with analysis of variance for a ran-domized complete block design with a factorialarrangement of treatments (Table 2). Moisture regime, soil,and sampling time were fixed variables, whereas replicationwas the random variable. Therefore, each main effect(moisture regime, soil type, and sampling time) and subse-quent interactions were evaluated. Also, for the field andlaboratory data, least significant differences (LSD) wereused to separate means at the 0.05 probability level.


0 23 47 69 930

50

100

150

200 Fluctuating moisture

LSD = 50.8

Bro

iler

litte

r (N

H4 +

NO

3), m

g

Fig. 3. Litter-derived total inorganic N (control corrected) (mg kg�1) inrelation to two soil moisture regimes and incubated at 25 �C for Rustonsoil.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Laboratory study

There were significant differences among the samplingtime (day after application) for all treatments, indicatinga continuous increase in litter-derived inorganic N(NO3–N + NH4–N) (Figs. 1–3). The initial rate of litter mineral-ization was much faster up to 23 d after litter application,particularly for Brooksville and Ruston soils (Fig. 4). Gor-dillo and Cabrera (1997b) reported an average of 33% min-eralization of broiler litter N incubated at 25 �C by the endof the first day and 59% by the end of the first week. Therate of mineralization was smallest for Catlin soil which

Brooksville

Days after application0 23 47 69 93

Bro

iler

litte

r (N

H4 +

NO

3), m

g kg

-1

0

50

100

150

200

250Constant moisture

Fluctuating moisture

LSD = 42.7

Fig. 1. Litter-derived total inorganic N (control corrected) (mg kg�1) inrelation to two soil moisture regimes and incubated at 25 �C forBrooksville soil.

Days after application0 23 47 69 93

0

40

80

60

120

160

140

100

20

200

180BrooksvilleCatlinRuston

Bro

iler

litte

r (N

H4 +

NO

3), m

g kg

-1

Fig. 4. Broiler litter total inorganic N (control corrected) (mg kg�1) asinfluenced by soil type, means are averaged across moisture regimes.


had the greatest amount of silt content, while the largestamount of mineralization was for Ruston which had thegreatest amount of sand (Table 1 and Fig. 4). Our resultsare in agreement with those of Van Veen et al. (1985)and Gordillo and Cabrera (1997b). Gordillo and Cabrera

Brook

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Days after lit

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Days after lit

Ave

rage

tem

pera

ture

(o C

)

Rus

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Ave

rage

tem

pera

ture

(o C

)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Fig. 5. Average daily soil and air temperature recorded du

(1997b) applied broiler litter to nine soils, and measurednet N mineralization over 146 d. Both the rate and extentof mineralization of litter N showed a strong positivecorrelation with sand and a negative correlation withsilt + clay content of the soils. Soil moisture content was

sville soil

35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70

ter application

35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70

ter application

ton soil

Air

Soil

Air

Soil

ring the field studies for Brooksville and Ruston soils.


expressed as water-filled pore space (WFPS) for each treat-ment combination. The constant soil moisture regime waskept at 60% WFPS, while the wet/dry regime fluctuatedbetween 60% and 30% WFPS for all three soils. These soilmoisture regimes did not significantly influence broiler lit-ter N mineralization (Figs. 1–3) which may suggest that

Brooksville

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

26

28

30

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Days after litter a

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Days after litter a

Ave

rage

soi

l wat

er c

onte

nt, g

ravi

met

ric (

%)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

26

28

30

Ave

rage

soi

l wat

er c

onte

nt, g

ravi

met

ric (

%)

Ruston

Fig. 6. Average daily soil moisture and precipitation recorded

the wetting and drying cycles were not wide enough toaffect mineralization. Results similar to our findings wheremoisture did not affect mineralization have been reported(Appel, 1998; Griffin et al., 2002; Honeycutt et al.,2005a). Honeycutt et al. (2005a) explained that the wet-ting/drying range for several studies were wider than the

soil

40 45 50 55 60 65 70

pplication

40 45 50 55 60 65 70

pplication

Precipitation

Water Content

Precipitation

Water Content

soil

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

Pre

cipi

tatio

n (c

m)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

Pre

cipi

tatio

n (c

m)

during the field studies for Brooksville and Ruston soils.


0 7 14 21 28 49 70

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Ruston

Brooksville

3

Bro

iler

litte

r (N

H4 +

NO

3), m

g kg

-1

Fig. 7. Litter-derived total inorganic N (control corrected) (mg kg�1) forthe Ruston and Brooksville soils amended with broiler litter under fieldcondition.

ic N

, mg

kg-1

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

RustonNH4-N

NO3-N


soil water content and drying rates imposed in this study(60–30% WFPS). Others however, have reported that soilmoisture significantly affected N mineralization (Cabrera,1993; Mikha et al., 2005). Mikha et al. (2005) reported thatrepeated drying and wetting cycles of soil incubated at25 �C significantly reduced cumulative N mineralizationcompared with constant soil water content.

Cumulative litter-derived inorganic N for each soil wascalculated by subtracting the inorganic N of the una-mended control and initial litter inorganic N content fromamended soils at each sampling time. We assumed that thisapproach would correct NO3–N and NH4–N initially in thesoil and any addition by mineralization and nitrification ofindigenous soil organic N. Litter-derived NO3–N andNH4–N were significantly different among the soil types(Table 2). Ruston soil had the fastest mineralization rateacross all moisture regimes (Fig. 3). The three selected soilshave distinct textural differences, for example; Ruston fromMississippi has the highest sand (45%); Brooksville fromMississippi the highest clay (38%) and lowest pH (5.6);and Catlin from Illinois the largest silt (52%) (Table 1).The time · soil interaction (Table 2) for mineralized N sug-gests differences among the soils with regards to N releasewith time, particularly with Catlin soil. Because Catlin soilhas the highest silt and second highest clay contents, it mayhave immobilized more N than Ruston and Brooksvillesoils, leading to the least amount of net litter N mineraliza-tion. The impact of soil texture on N mineralization hasalso been reported by other researchers (Sorensen et al.,1994; Honeycutt et al., 2005a).

Bro

iler

litte

r In

orga

n


0 7 14 21 28 49 700

20

40

60

80

100

120

Brooksville

3

Fig. 8. Litter-derived ammonium and nitrate N (control corrected) (mgkg�1) for Ruston and Brooksville soils amended with broiler litter underfield condition.

3.2. Field study

A field incubation study was conducted on Brooksvilleand Ruston soils from Mississippi. Microplot cylinderswere designed and constructed so that any mineralized Nleached from the cylinder’s soil would be captured andretained by the exchange resin compartment. Soil tempera-ture, moisture, and precipitation during the field experi-ments were continuously measured (Figs. 5 and 6). Soiltemperature ranged from approximately 22 to 34 �C forBrooksville and 19 to 32 �C for Ruston soils during theentire experiment. These data indicate that the 25 �C tem-perature that was chosen for the laboratory incubationwas almost the same as average temperature of the fieldsoil. The precipitation data also shows more rainfall eventsduring the field study for Ruston than for Brooksville soils.

In order to quantify the litter-derived inorganic N(NO3–N and NH4–N), the total inorganic N of litter-amendedsoils were calculated by summing the inorganic N in soil,resin, and the initial litter inorganic N content and thenwas adjusted by subtracting the total inorganic N of theunamended (control) microplot cylinder soils. Litter-derived inorganic N exhibited a non-linear relationshipwith time (days after application) for both soils (Figs. 7and 8). It was generally assumed that there was no priming

effect, a rapid increase in mineralization of indigenous soilorganic N as a result of litter addition to soil.

Mineralization rate was slower for Brooksville thanRuston soils up to two weeks after litter application. How-ever, there was a rapid increase of litter-derived NO3–Nplus NH4–N for Ruston up to 21 d after litter application(Fig. 7). This indicates greater nitrification (conversion ofNH4–N to NO3–N) in Ruston than Brooksville soils(Fig. 8). The difference between the soils in regard to the

Days after application0 3 7 14 21 28 49 70 93

Bro

iler

litte

r N

(N

H4

+ N

O3)

, mg

kg-1

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Brooksville lab incubation

Brooksville field incubation

Ruston lab incubation

Ruston field incubation

Fig. 9. Comparison of litter-derived inorganic N mineralized (mg kg�1)during laboratory and field incubation studies for Brooksville and Rustonsoils.


impact on N mineralization may be related to soil proper-ties such as textural differences (particularly the clay types).The clay + silt content of Brooksville is 81.5% vs. 55% forRuston soil (Table 1). The limited adsorption sites (sinceNH4–N can be adsorbed by clay minerals) in the Rustonsandy loam in comparison with Brooksville may have beenresponsible for the manure mineralized N remaining in thesoil which resulted in greater concentration over time.Hence, with the Brooksville soil, a much heavier soil (siltyclay loam) than Ruston, the manure-derived NH4–N mayhave been fixed by the clay minerals and resulted in lowerinorganic N concentration. Our results are in agreementwith many past studies that have shown a decrease in man-ure mineralization with an increase in clay and silt content(Gordillo and Cabrera, 1997b; Bosatta and Agren, 1997;Sorensen and Jensen, 1995; Sorensen et al., 1994). Gordilloand Cabrera (1997b) reported that mineralization of poul-try litter across a wide range of soils was negatively corre-lated with total clay and silt content. The differencebetween Brooksville and Ruston was also exhibited in thelaboratory study, particularly past the 47 d after litterapplication (Fig. 9). In general, the total litter-derived inor-ganic N was lower and proceeded at a lower rate in the fieldstudy than the laboratory study (up to 70 d after litterapplication). The environmental factors such as precipita-tion, soil moisture, and soil temperature may have influ-enced the mineralization process for the field studycompared to the laboratory study.

4. Conclusions

Broiler litter addition to three soil types in a laboratoryand two soil types in a field incubation studies exhibited arapid increase in soil inorganic N, which indicates a rapidmineralization of litter N. Surprisingly, soil moisture con-tent (constant or fluctuating) did not have an impact on lit-ter N mineralization while soil type had the greatest

impact. The impact of soil type was most pronounced inthe field study. In general, the field study followed the sametrend as the laboratory study, for example NH4–Ndecreased and NO3–N increased non-linearly. However,the net litter N mineralization was lower in the field studythan laboratory study for both soils. Honeycutt (1999) alsoreported lower N mineralization of soil organic matter N ina field than a laboratory incubation study. Because soiltype had significant impact on broiler litter N mineraliza-tion, and lack of significant impact by soil moisture regimeson litter mineralization, additional soils types and moistureregimes should be further investigated. This would developsound reliable predictive relationships to quantify litter Nmineralization/availability.

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Laboratory and field evaluation of broiler litter nitrogen mineralization