Nitrous Oxide Fluxes from a Commercial Beef Cattle Feedlot in Kansas

 

Authors
A. Aguilar, Orlando; Maghirang, Ronaldo; W. Rice, Charles
Format
Article
Status
publishedVersion
Description

Emission of greenhouse gases, including nitrous oxide (N2O), from open beef cattle feedlots is becoming an environmental concern; however, research measuring emission rates of N2O from open beef cattle feedlots has been limited. This study was conducted to quantify N2O emission fluxes as affected by pen surface conditions, in a commercial beef cattle feedlot in the state of Kansas, USA, from July 2010 through September 2011. The measurement period represented typical feedlot conditions, with air temperatures ranging from -24 to 39°C. Static flux chambers were used to collect gas samples from pen surfaces at 0, 15, and 30 minutes. Gas samples were analyzed with a gas chromatograph and from the measured concentrations, fluxes were calculated. Median emission flux from the moist/muddy surface condition was 2.03 mg m−2 hour−1, which was about 20 times larger than the N2O fluxes from the other pen surface conditions. In addition, N2O peaks from the moist/muddy pen surface condition were six times larger than emission peaks previously reported for agricultural soils.
Emission of greenhouse gases, including nitrous oxide (N2O), from open beef cattle feedlots is becoming an environmental concern; however, research measuring emission rates of N2O from open beef cattle feedlots has been limited. This study was conducted to quantify N2O emission fluxes as affected by pen surface conditions, in a commercial beef cattle feedlot in the state of Kansas, USA, from July 2010 through September 2011. The measurement period represented typical feedlot conditions, with air temperatures ranging from -24 to 39°C. Static flux chambers were used to collect gas samples from pen surfaces at 0, 15, and 30 minutes. Gas samples were analyzed with a gas chromatograph and from the measured concentrations, fluxes were calculated. Median emission flux from the moist/muddy surface condition was 2.03 mg m−2 hour−1, which was about 20 times larger than the N2O fluxes from the other pen surface conditions. In addition, N2O peaks from the moist/muddy pen surface condition were six times larger than emission peaks previously reported for agricultural soils.

Publication Year
2014
Language
eng
Topic
feedlot surface emissions
greenhouse gases
nitrous oxide flux
static flux chambers
feedlot surface emissions
greenhouse gases
nitrous oxide flux
static flux chambers
Repository
RI de Documento Digitales de Acceso Abierto de la UTP
Get full text
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.4137/ASWR.S12841
http://ridda2.utp.ac.pa/handle/123456789/4424
Rights
openAccess
License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/