Role of 15N methods for assessing the susceptibility of agricultural N management systems to environmental N losses

Abstract

An evaluation of the susceptibility of different N management systems to nitrogen (N) losses into the environment requires either the in-situ determination of the individual components of the nitrogen balance or the determination of the recovery of fertilizer N in plants and soil. For both aspects, 15N methods are essential as the 15N gas flux method (15NGF) is the only widespread insitu method for the determination of dinitrogen (N2) emissions, and 15N labelled fertilizers can be used to assess the allocation of fertilizer N to plants and soil.