Optimising storage conditions and processing of sheep urine for nitrogen cycle and gaseous emission measurements from urine patches

A - Papers appearing in refereed journals

Charteris, A., Marsden, K. A., Evans, J., Barrat, H., Loick, N., Jones, D. L., Chadwick, D. R. and Cardenas, L. M. 2021. Optimising storage conditions and processing of sheep urine for nitrogen cycle and gaseous emission measurements from urine patches. Scientific Reports. 11, p. 12116. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-91498-4

AuthorsCharteris, A., Marsden, K. A., Evans, J., Barrat, H., Loick, N., Jones, D. L., Chadwick, D. R. and Cardenas, L. M.
Abstract

In grazing systems, urine patches deposited by livestock are hotspots of nutrient cycling and the most important source of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. Studies of the effects of urine deposition, including, for example, the determination of country-specific N2O emission factors, require natural urine for use in experiments and face challenges obtaining urine of the same composition, but of differing concentrations. Yet, few studies have explored the importance of storage conditions and processing of ruminant urine for use in subsequent gaseous emission experiments. We conducted three experiments with sheep urine to determine optimal storage conditions and whether partial freeze-drying could be used to concentrate the urine, while maintaining the constituent profile and the subsequent urine-derived gaseous emission response once applied to soil. We concluded that filtering of urine prior to storage, and storage at -20 °C best maintains the nitrogen-containing constituent profile of sheep urine samples. In addition, based on the 14 urine chemical components determined in this study, partial lyophilisation of sheep urine to a concentrate represents a suitable approach to maintain the constituent profile at a higher overall concentration and does not alter sheep urine-derived soil gaseous emissions.

KeywordsFiltering; Freezing; Freeze-drying; Lyophilisation; Nitrous oxide; Nitric oxide
Year of Publication2021
JournalScientific Reports
Journal citation11, p. 12116
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-91498-4
Open accessPublished as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
FunderBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Funder project or codeS2N - Soil to Nutrition - Work package 1 (WP1) - Optimising nutrient flows and pools in the soil-plant-biota system
S2N - Soil to Nutrition - Work package 2 (WP2) - Adaptive management systems for improved efficiency and nutritional quality
S2N - Soil to Nutrition - Work package 3 (WP3) - Sustainable intensification - optimisation at multiple scales
Publisher's version
Accepted author manuscript
Supplemental file
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online09 Jun 2021
Publication process dates
Accepted29 Apr 2021
PublisherNature Publishing Group
ISSN2045-2322

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