Effect of grassland management on the amounts of soil organic N and C.

Abstract

The effects of different management systems on soil organic N and C contents were studied on a sandy and loamy soil given various amounts of N fertilizers under rotational grazing, in the Netherlands. Differences in total soil N and C between grazed and mown fields were also investigated. On the loamy soil grazed plots N accumulated at 245 kg/ha per year, irrespective of the rate of applied N. Four years after the experiment was initiated both soil N and C contents were considerably higher under grazing than under mowing. The C/N ratio of soil organic matter was higher without N fertilizer application, especially in the top 5 cm. The amount of N returned to the soil by grazing was 71% and 57% in the sandy and the loamy soil, resp. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission)