Martina Sturm

Nitrate Migration in Plant-soil-groundwater System: the Use of Stable Nitrogen Isotopes in Agricultural Research Martina Sturm

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.