Award details

Long-term experiments in nutrient cycling research

Reference	BBS/E/C/00004171
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Keith Goulding
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors	Dr P R Poulton
Institution	Rothamsted Research
Department	Rothamsted Research Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	1,009,370
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/04/1999
End date	31/03/2008
Duration	108 months

Abstract

There are many factors which impact upon the complex biological, chemical and physical processes which govern nutrient cycling in soils. Relatively stable properties such as mineral content interact with slowly changing properties such as organic matter content and pH and dynamic properties such as soil microbial biomass and moisture content to control nutrient pool sizes and transformations. These properties are impacted upon by land management, climate and atmospheric pollution; global change will impact on all of these. Long-term experiments are invaluable for obtaining reliable data on inputs, outputs and changes in soil properties. In this project the long-term experiments at Rothamsted and Woburn are used to investigate how nutrient cycling is controlled by external factors through their effects on soil properties in two ways. First, the measurement of crop yields and the regular sampling and analysis of crops and soils from the long-term experiments forms a unique and invaluable database and archive for determining and modelling long-term trends and the factors that control them. Second, the well-characterised long-term experiments provide a perfect test bed and source of samples for basic research into nutrient cycling. Objectives 1. To construct nutrient budgets and more detailed measurements of key nutrient pools for several long-term experiments. 2. To relate the budgets to controlling factors such as soil type and management, and to global change. 3. To determine the sustainability and environmental impact of agricultural systems.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Closed Committee - Agri-food (AF)
Research Topics	X – not assigned to a current Research Topic
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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