Effects of normal and altered cattle urine on short-term greenhouse gas flux from mixed-grass prairie in the Northern Great Plains

Use of dietary amendments to reduce nitrogen (N) in excreta represents a possible strategy to decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from livestock. In this regard, ingestion of small amounts of condensed quebracho tannin has been found to reduce N concentration in livestock urine. In this study, we sought to quantify the effects of tannin-affected cattle urine, normal cattle urine, and NH4NO3 in solution on greenhouse gas flux. Carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) flux was measured using static chamber methodology from the three N treatments and a no application control over a 6-week period in a mixed grass prairie in west-central North Dakota, USA. Over the course of the study, average CO2 emission was greatest from normal urine (335 ± 8 mg C m−2 h−1) and least from the control (229 ± 19 mg C m−2 h−1), with intermediate fluxes for the tannin urine and NH4NO3 treatments (290 ± 27 and 286 ± 54 mg C m−2 h−1, respectively). Methane uptake was prevalent throughout the study, as soil conditions were predominantly warm and dry. Uptake of CH4 was greatest within the control (−30 ± 2 μg C m−2 h−1) and least in the tannin urine treatment (−12 ± 4 μg C m−2 h−1). Uptake of CH4 was over 40% less within the tannin urine treatment as compared to normal urine, and may have been repressed by the capacity of tannin to bind monooxygenases responsible for CH4 oxidation. Average N2O emission from NH4NO3 solution was more than twice that of all other treatments. Though the tannin urine treatment possessed 34% less N than normal cattle urine, cumulative N2O emission between the treatments did not differ. Results from this study suggest the use of condensed quebracho tannin as a dietary amendment for livestock does not yield GHG mitigation benefits in the short-term.