INFLUENCE OF EXCESS NITROGEN ON SOIL MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES IN TURFGRASS SYSTEMS

Abstract

As the main factor influencing plant growth with aesthetic quality and stress recovery, nitrogen inputs are essential to the management of turfgrass. The environmental effects of ineffective fertilization are significant due to the large amount of land devoted to managed turfgrass. The main pathways of nitrogen loss nitrate leaching, surface runoff and gaseous emissions (ammonia and nitrous oxide) as well as the ensuing ecological and public health effects such as groundwater contamination along with methemoglobinemia risk and aquatic eutrophication. Evidence suggests that nitrogen loss is not a natural defect of turfgrass systems, but rather a highly management-dependent phenomenon increased environmental risk arises when fertilizer application exceeds plant demand, coincides with excessive irrigation or is poorly matched to soil and turf conditions. Optimizing Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) will lessen these effects.