The contribution of cattle urine and dung to nitrous oxide emissions: Quantification of country specific emission factors and implications for national inventories

Abstract

Urine patches and dung pats from grazing livestock create hotspots for production and emission of the greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide (N ₂O), and represent a large proportion of total N ₂O emissions in many national agricultural greenhouse gas inventories. As such, there is much interest in developing country specific N ₂O emission factors (EFs) for excretal nitrogen (EF _3, pasture, range and paddock) deposited during gazing. The aims of this study were to generate separate N ₂O emissions data for cattle derived urine and dung, to provide an evidence base for the generation of a country specific EF for the UK from this nitrogen source. The experiments were also designed to determine the effects of site and timing of application on emissions, and the efficacy of the nitrification inhibitor, dicyandiamide (DCD) on N ₂O losses. This co-ordinated set of 15 plot-scale, year-long field experiments using static chambers was conducted at five grassland sites, typical of the soil and climatic zones of grazed grassland in the UK. We show that the average urine and dung N ₂O EFs were 0.69% and 0.19%, respectively, resulting in a combined excretal N ₂O EF (EF ₃), of 0.49%, which is <25% of the IPCC default EF ₃ for excretal returns from grazing cattle. Regression analysis suggests that urine N ₂O EFs were controlled more by composition than was the case for dung, whilst dung N ₂O EFs were more related to soil and environmental factors. The urine N ₂O EF was significantly greater from the site in SW England, and significantly greater from the early grazing season urine application than later applications. Dycandiamide reduced the N ₂O EF from urine patches by an average of 46%. The significantly lower excretal EF ₃ than the IPCC default has implications for the UK's national inventory and for subsequent carbon footprinting of UK ruminant livestock products.

Graphical abstract

Highlights

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  First co-ordinated experiments in UK to generate data for country specific grazing excretal N ₂O EF

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  Urine had a significantly greater average N ₂O EF (0.69%) than dung (0.19%).

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  The combined excretal N ₂O EF was 0.49%, <25% of the IPCC default value for cattle.

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  DCD reduced the N ₂O EF from urine patches by an average of 46%.

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  Urine N ₂O was controlled by its composition, dung N ₂O was related to soil and environmental factors.