Nitrogen loss in Brachiaria decumbens after application of glyphosate or glufosinate-ammonium

Abstract

Nitrogen losses from the soil-plant system may be influenced by herbicide applications. In order to evaluate N loss in brachiaria (Brachiaria decumbens) after application of the herbicides glyphosate and glufosinate-ammonium, an experiment was carried out in a greenhouse as a completely randomized design, with three treatments and six replicates. Treatments were as follows: i) desiccation of brachiaria-plants with glyphosate; ii) desiccation of brachiaria-plants with glufosinate-ammonium; and iii) control, without herbicide application. The plants were cultivated in 4 kg pots of sandy soil and fertilized with ammonium sulfate- 15N, (200 mg kg-1) in order to quantify the allocation of the fertilizer-N and its recovery in the soil-plant system. Plants treated with the herbicides had less N accumulation and less recovery of the fertilizer-N (15N) relative to the control. In the soil, the greatest recovery of 15N-fertilizer occurred for treatments where N was applied, possibly due to the occurrence of other N compound losses to the soil, like root exudation and root death. The total recovery of 15N-fertilizer in the soil-plant system was higher in the control than in the treated plants showing the direct action of the herbicides on nitrogen loss, and especially by the above-ground part of the brachiaria plants.