Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, 2016, 16 (3), 745-762 RESEARCH ARTICLE Dairy slurry application to grasslands and groundwater quality in a volcanic soil J. Huertas1, J.G. Cuevas2,3,4*, L. Paulino4,5, F. Salazar6, J.L. Arumí7, J. Dörner3,4 1Programa de Ingeniería Ambiental, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Mariana, San Juan de Pasto – Co- lombia. 2Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA), La Serena, Chile. 3Universidad Austral de Chile, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Instituto de Ingeniería Agraria y Suelos, Valdiv- ia, Chile. 4Universidad Austral de Chile, Centro de Investigación en Suelos Volcánicos, Valdivia, Chile. 5Universidad de Concepción, Facultad de Agronomía, Chillán, Chile. 6Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, Centro Regional de Investigación INIA Remehue, Osorno, Chile. 7Universidad de Concepción, Facultad de Ingeniería Agrícola, Departamento de Recursos Hídricos, Centro CRHIAM Conicyt/Fondap/15130015, Chillán, Chile.*Corresponding author:
[email protected] Abstract Research in volcanic-ash soils has shown that they largely capture the dairy slurry following application to land; however, their hydrological properties would favor nutrient leaching. Our objective was to evaluate the contribution of biogeochemical and hydrological controls on the pollution of groundwater by cattle slurry ap- plied to a permanent grassland growing on a volcanic soil. We sampled groundwater chemistry since 10 months before the fertilization (three samplings), and 16 months after, with samplings 1-2 months after the fertigation. Following fertilization, ammonium, exchangeable potassium, and magnesium soil concentrations increased in the fertilized plots compared to the control plots. In contrast, no effect of slurry on groundwater quality was de- tected, with the exception of dissolved organic nitrogen, a main component of dairy slurry that increased in the groundwater below the fertilized plots.