Nitrate migration in plant-soil-groundwater system

The subject matter of this book relates to the use of stable nitrogen isotopes (15-N, 14-N) in agricultural studies. Since nitrogen is an essential nutrient for crop growth and one that has the greatest effect on crop yield, growers apply it intensively in the form of N fertilisers. Various types of fertilisers (i.e. organic, synthetic, 15N-labelled, 15N-depleted) have distinctive isotopic signatures which allow us to follow the migration of the applied fertiliser within the plant-soil-groundwater system. This doctoral thesis presents the potential use of stable N isotopes by two distinct case studies. First study deals with the environmental aspect, i.e. fertiliser use efficiency and nitrate leaching, whereas the second study examines the applicability of N isotopic fingerprint in vegetables as an indicator of prohibited use of synthetic N fertilisers in organic farming.

Autorentext

Martina turm, PhD in Ecotechnology (Isotope Geochemistry) at Jöef Stefan International Postgraduate School, Ljubljana (2011), B.Sc in Geology at Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Ljubljana, Slovenia (2006).