HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Free Full Text (PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Related articles in JEQ Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (8) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Qian, Y. L. Articles by Mosier, A. R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Qian, Y. L. Articles by Mosier, A. R. GeoRef GeoRef Citation Agricola Articles by Qian, Y. L. Articles by Mosier, A. R. Related Collections Watershed and Landscape Processes Ecosystem Management Turfgrass Management Best Management Practices Ecological Risk Assessment

TECHNICAL REPORTS

Landscape and Watershed Processes

Long-Term Effects of Clipping and Nitrogen Management in Turfgrass on Soil Organic Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics

The CENTURY Model Simulation

^a Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1173
^b Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory (NREL), Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1173
^c Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, Loveland, CO 80539
^d University of California Cooperative Extension, Alameda, CA 94502
^e USDA-ARS, Soil–Plant–Nutrient Research Unit, Fort Collins, CO 80522

^* Corresponding author (yaqian{at}lamar.colostate.edu).

Received for publication December 14, 2002. Experiments to document the long-term effects of clipping management on N requirements, soil organic carbon (SOC), and soil organic nitrogen (SON) are difficult and costly and therefore few. The CENTURY ecosystem model offers an opportunity to study long-term effects of turfgrass clipping management on biomass production, N requirements, SOC and SON, and N leaching through computer simulation. In this study, the model was verified by comparing CENTURY-predicted Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) clipping yields with field-measured clipping yields. Long-term simulations were run for Kentucky bluegrass grown under home lawn conditions on a clay loam soil in Colorado. The model predicted that compared with clipping-removed management, returning clippings for 10 to 50 yr would increase soil C sequestration by 11 to 25% and nitrogen sequestration by 12 to 28% under a high (150 kg N ha^-1 yr^-1) nitrogen (N) fertilization regime, and increase soil carbon sequestration by 11 to 59% and N sequestration by 14 to 78% under a low (75 kg N ha^-1 yr^-1) N fertilization regime. The CENTURY model was further used as a management supporting system to generate optimal N fertilization rates as a function of turfgrass age. Returning grass clippings to the turf–soil ecosystem can reduce N requirements by 25% from 1 to 10 yr after turf establishment, by 33% 11 to 25 yr after establishment, by 50% 25 to 50 yr after establishment, and by 60% thereafter. The CENTURY model shows potential for use as a decision-supporting tool for maintaining turf quality and minimizing negative environmental impacts.

Abbreviations: SOC, soil organic carbon • SOM, soil organic matter • SON, soil organic nitrogen

Related articles in JEQ:

This Issue in Journal of Environmental Quality

JEQ 2003 32: 1577-1582. [Full Text]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. H. Allen Jr., S. L. Albrecht, K. J. Boote, J. M. G. Thomas, Y. C. Newman, and K. W. Skirvin Soil organic carbon and nitrogen accumulation in plots of rhizoma perennial peanut and bahiagrass grown in elevated carbon dioxide and temperature. J. Environ. Qual., July 1, 2006; 35(4): 1405 - 1412. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]