| Abstract: | Land use and nitrate-nitrogen in the vadose zone of loess deposits in the southern part of the Lower Rhenish Embayment Mean annual nitrogen-leaching was studied at seven experimental sites with grain-sugar beet crop rotation. Soil water simulation models and determination of the nitrogen content in the vadose zone below the rooting zone were combined to quantify the annual leaching rates. Leaching amounts to 11–18 kg NO3? N/ha · a at sites where only mineral fertilizer was applied, whereas sites with additional organic fertilizers show higher leaching rates of 30–36 kg NO3? N/ha · a. |
