Temperature response of ammonia emission from sandy loam soil amended with manure compost and urea

Ammonia (NH3) emission is an atmospheric pollutant that harms the environment and public health. Although the use of nitrogen (N) - based fertilizer to increase crop output is a significant source of NH3 emissions, it is unclear what factors speed up this process. A laboratory incubation study using the dynamic chamber method was performed to evaluate the impact of manure compost and N rates on NH3 emission at different temperatures (15, 25, and 35 °C). The ammonia emission from sandy loam soil treated with compost at 110 kg N ha−1 (CU0) and urea at 100, 200, and 400 kg N ha−1: CU1, CU2, and CU3, respectively, were monitored for 28 days. The result showed that cumulative NH3 emission increased with temperature and N application rates. At the three temperature regimes, N loss via NH3 emission ranged between 7.2 and 8.3, 8.04 and 12.78, and 13.79 and 44.78 percent of N applied to CU1, CU2, and CU3, respectively. The activation energy was highest in CU3 treatments in all the temperature regimes resulting in 36%–60% higher compared to others. The temperature quotient (Q10) of NH3 emission ranged between 0.28 and 8.06 and 0.18 and 14.91 at 15–25 °C and 25–35 °C, respectively. This study demonstrated that the application of compost (110 kg N ha−1) and urea (100 or 200 kg N ha−1) at low temperatures (< 25 °C) is a good strategy to reduce ammonia volatilization, improve N use efficiency and soil properties.