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Ethylene in Grassland Soil Treated with Animal Excreta¹

ABSTRACT

Ethylene was evolved in the surface layers of grassland following the application of 550 metric tons/ha of an unamended mixture of cow dung and urine (slurry) to the soil surface in the early spring (March). Concentrations in the gaseous phase of the slurry layer exceeded 2 ppm (vol/vol) during the first 3 weeks after the application, but thereafter were <0.25 ppm. In the underlying surface soil, ethylene was detected continuously for 4 months after the application: the concentration declined from about 1 ppm in April to about 0.2 ppm in July. After midsummer, significant evolution was detected only for a short period in the following winter.

Measurement of ethylene concentrations in columns of soil, incubated after an application of excreta to the soil surface, showed that fresh slurry promoted ethylene accumulation in the gaseous phase more than stored slurry, and that both dung and urine stimulated ethylene evolution.

Key Words: feces • slurry

¹ Contribution from the Department of Soil Science, University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire, England. RGI 5AQ.

² ARC Research Fellow.

Received for publication December 9, 1973.