The effects of sheep urine and dung patches on methane (CH 4) and carbon dioxide (CO 2) fluxes were investigated during the summer-autumn in 2010, to evaluate their contribution to climate change in a desert grassland in Inner Mongolia, China. Results indicate that the cumulative CH 4 emissions for dung patches, urine patches and control plots were -0.076, -0.084, and -0.114 g/m 2 and these were net CH 4 sinks during the measured period. The level of CH 4 intake from urine and dung plots decreased 25.7%, and 33.3%, respectively, compared with a control plot. CO 2 fluxes differed (p<0.01) in urine plots, with an average of 569.20 mg/m 2/h compared with control plots (357.62 mg/m 2/h) across all sampling days. Dung patches have cumulative CO 2 emissions that were 15.9% higher compared with the control during the 55-d period. Overall, sheep excrement weakened CH 4 intake and increased CO 2 emissions.
CITATION STYLE
Jiang, Y., Tang, S., Wang, C., Zhou, P., Tenuta, M., Han, G., & Huang, D. (2012). Contribution of urine and dung patches from grazing sheep to methane and carbon dioxide fluxes in an inner mongolian desert grassland. Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences, 25(2), 207–212. https://doi.org/10.5713/ajas.2011.11261
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