ALTERATION OF NITROGEN CYCLING BY AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES, AND ITS ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH CONSEQUENCES

The food demands of the increasing world population puts pressure on land use and N availability. In this paper an overview is given of the different N cycling processes affected by agricultural activities. Of the amount of N added to the soil, about half is removed from the field as harvested crop,...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Cleemput,Oswald van, Boeckx,Pascal
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2005
País:Chile
Institución:CONICYT Chile
Repositorio:SciELO Chile
OAI Identifier:oai:scielo:S0717-66432005000200005
Acceso en línea:http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0717-66432005000200005
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Acidification
drinking water
eutrophication
greenhouse effect
nitrogen loss
ozone
Descripción
Sumario:The food demands of the increasing world population puts pressure on land use and N availability. In this paper an overview is given of the different N cycling processes affected by agricultural activities. Of the amount of N added to the soil, about half is removed from the field as harvested crop, while the remainder of the N is incorporated into soil organic matter or is lost to other parts of the environment. During the last decades there has been much research on environmental consequences of agricultural activities, mainly on emission of gaseous N compounds (NH3, NO, N2O and N2), but also on N leaching, runoff and erosion. Study of the factors controlling loss of N is complex because of their multiplicity and mutual interactions. More recently attention is also going to human health problems as a consequence of agriculture. Nitrate in food and drinking water, ozone depletion in the stratosphere, ozone formation in the troposphere, global warming and its consequences, acidification and eutrophication are among the phenomena influencing life on Earth