Subject(s)
Agriculture , Environmental Pollution , Nitrogen , Amines , Ammonia , Animal Feed , Animals , Biodegradation, Environmental , Cattle , Nitrates , Nitrites , Poultry , Water Pollution, ChemicalABSTRACT
Thirty-day-old corn seedlings, grown in the greenhouse with different concentrations of supplemental nitrate nitrogen, were moved to a constant-temperature growth chamber and sealed in a 560-liter tent made of polyvinyl chloride. The plants were exposed to air containing ammonia labeled with nitrogen-15 (1, 10, and 20 parts per million) for 24 hours and then harvested. The nitrogen-15 content of the tops and roots showed that at 1 part per million 43 percent of the ammonia was absorbed, whereas at 10 and 20 parts per million, 30 percent of the ammonia was absorbed. The results demonstrate that growing plants may be a natural sink for atmospheric ammonia.
Subject(s)
Ammonia/metabolism , Zea mays/metabolism , Air/analysis , Amides/analysis , Amino Acids/analysis , Ammonia/analysis , Autoradiography , Nitrogen/analysis , Nitrogen Isotopes , Spectrum Analysis , Zea mays/analysisABSTRACT
Apparatus designed to measure absorption of ammonia from the air by aqueous surfaces was installed near several cattle feedlots and in appropriate control areas. Ammonia absorption rates measured near feedlots were as much as 20 times greater than near the control. Their magnitudes indicate that absorption of ammonia volatilized from cattle feedlots contributes significantly to the nitrogen enrichment of surface water in the vicinity of feedlots.
