Soil
Nitrogen pools, cycling, and flow
Our research program:
- Traces the transformation, movement, and fate of soil N compounds
- Quantifies N-based indicators of soil health, and develop tools for soil health management
- Contributes to understanding the role of soil organic N to the supply of bioavailable N for crops
Current projects include:
- Benchmarking indicators of biological soil health by soil zone for field cropping systems
- Developing methods for estimating depolymerization and mineralization supply rates for crops
- Linking organic matter indicators of soil health for urban agriculture and tree health
Crops
Nitrogen use and recovery efficiency
Our research program:
- Traces crop N uptake and allocation of fertilizer-derived and soil-derived N sources
- Quantifies crop N removal and N return to soil
- Contributes to understanding how crop phylogenetic and functional diversity influences N use efficiency across spatial and temporal scales
Current projects include:
- Determining fertilizer recovery efficiency of specialty crops
- Quantifying the variability in fertilizer N recovery of diverse wheat genotypes
- Measuring the transfer of N from lentil to wheat production, and potential genetic variability
- Developing N budgets by rotation diversity
Losses
Nitrous oxide emissions and losses
Our research program:
- Measures N2O emissions via micrometeorological techniques and chamber methods
- Contributes to understanding how agronomic management and edaphic factors influence N2O production and emission
- Models N losses and N budgets
Current projects include:
- Operating the USask micromet site using flux gradient methods to measure field-scale N2O fluxes year-round
- Testing different 4R N management practices and rotation diversity on N2O emissions
- Modelling N2O emissions on the Canadian Prairies