Vegetative buffers for fan emissions from poultry farms: 2. ammonia, dust and foliar nitrogen

Abstract

This study evaluated the potential of trees planted around commercial poultry farms to trap ammonia (NH 3 ) and dust or particulate matter (PM). Norway spruce, Spike hybrid poplar, hybrid willow, and Streamco purpleosier willow were planted on five commercial farms from 2003 to 2004. Plant foliage was sampled in front of the exhaust fans and at a control distance away from the fans on one turkey, two laying hen, and two broiler chicken farms between June and July 2006. Samples were analyzed for dry matter (DM), nitrogen (N), and PM content. In addition, NH 3 concentrations were measured downwind of the exhaust fans among the trees and at a control distance using NH 3 passive dosi-tubes. Foliage samples were taken and analyzed separately based on plant species. The two layer farms had both spruce and poplar plantings whereas the two broiler farms had hybrid willow and Streamco willow plantings which allowed sampling and species comparisons with the effect of plant location (control vs. fan). The results showed that NH 3 concentration h − 1 was reduced by distance from housing fans (P ≤ 0.0001), especially between 0 m (12.01 ppm), 11.4 m (2.59 ppm), 15 m (2.03 ppm), and 30 m (0.31 ppm). Foliar N of plants near the fans was greater than those sampled away from the fans for poplar (3.87 vs. 2.56%; P ≤ 0.0005) and hybrid willow (3.41 vs. 3.02%; P ≤ 0.05). The trends for foliar N in spruce (1.91 vs. 1.77%; P = 0.26) and Streamco willow (3.85 vs. 3.33; P = 0.07) were not significant. Pooling results of the four plant species indicated greater N concentration from foliage sampled near the fans than of that away from the fans (3.27 vs. 2.67%; P ≤ 0.0001). Foliar DM concentration was not affected by plant location, and when pooled the foliar DM of the four plant species near the fans was 51.3% in comparison with 48.5% at a control distance. There was a significant effect of plant location on foliar N and DM on the two layer farms with greater N and DM adjacent to fans than at a control distance (2.95 vs. 2.15% N and 45.4 vs. 38.2% DM, respectively). There were also significant plant species effects on foliar N and DM with poplar retaining greater N (3.22 vs. 1.88%) and DM (43.7 vs. 39.9%) than spruce. The interaction of location by species (P ≤ 0.005) indicated that poplar was more responsive in terms of foliar N, but less responsive for DM than spruce. The effect of location and species on foliar N and DM were not clear among the two willow species on the broiler farms. Plant location had no effect on plant foliar PM weight, but plant species significantly influenced the ability of the plant foliage to trap PM with spruce and hybrid willow showing greater potential than poplar and Streamco willow for PM 2.5 (0.0054, 0.0054, 0.0005, and 0.0016 mg cm − 2 ; P ≤ 0.05) and total PM (0.0309, 0.0102, 0.0038, and 0.0046 mg cm − 2 , respectively; P ≤ 0.001). Spruce trapped more dust compared to the other three species (hybrid willow, poplar, and Streamco willow) for PM 10 (0.0248 vs. 0.0036 mg cm − 2 ; P ≤ 0.0001) and PM ...

Critical loads of nitrogen deposition and critical levels of atmospheric ammonia for semi-natural Mediterranean evergreen woodlands

“…The results confirm the short-range dispersion of N red emitted from a point source found in other works , but it may not be the same in other situations since it is dependent on the surrounding land-cover (e.g. trees vs. grass proportion) and on the number of animals in the barn (Adrizal et al, 2008;Verhagen and van Diggelen, 2006).…”

Ammonia emissions from a broiler farm: spatial variability of airborne concentrations in the vicinity and impact on adjacent woodland

“…This explains the higher vitality of the investigated species at site C at an increased distance (∼400 m) from the farm. This study confirms (<3 μg NH 3 m −3 ) what Tyndall and Colletti (2007) and Adrizal et al (2008) found with respect to the declining amounts of NH 3 from previously elevated levels at a relatively short distance from the farm. These authors proposed, therefore, the use of vegetative shelter belts, with modest heights (3-9 m), placed near agricultural sources in order to capture farm emissions.…”

Land altitude, slope, and coverage as risk factors for Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) outbreaks in the United States

“…Various types of trees were able to play the role of a vegetative buffer by trapping aerial ammonia near poultry fans under different temperature conditions [27]. A follow-up study [28] further showed that different types of trees may effectively trap ammonia, particular matter (dust). Reduction in aerial ammonia depended on where plants were located in regards to distance to fans and type of tree (foliage).…”