The Story of Nitrogen Podcast

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https://hdl.handle.net/11299/263621

"The Story of Nitrogen: How one nutrient shapes life in fields and streams, soil and sea" is a 5-part audio series where we interview agronomists, ecologists, geologists, farmers and lake scientists, and explore how one nutrient shapes life in fields and streams, soil and sea. Watch a video introduction on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPanUsCCFCg

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The Story of Nitrogen Episode 6- The Rule of 1.2
(2022-06-20) Klinger, Greg; Bugeja, Shane; Nafziger, Emerson; Fernandez, Fabian; Trcka, Paul
Welcome back to this 6th, bonus, episode of "The Story of Nitrogen"! This episode is all about nitrogen fertilizers and how we decide what rate of fertilizer to apply to our ground. This is a question I and many others have tried to tackle in our careers, and one whose answers regularly surprise and humble us. This episode is also about another question, one which anyone can relate to regardless of whether they work in agriculture or not, one which every person will have a different answer to: "How good is good enough?"
The Story of Nitrogen Episode 5- A Legacy of Salts
(2021-11-22) Klinger, Greg; Bugeja, Shane; Dugan, Hilary; Strock, Jeff; Castellano, Mike; Barry, John
If you want to understand how nitrogen behaves in the soil, it pays to think about two things: water and time. These two factors control when and how much nitrogen can be lost from soil. They also help explain why some landscapes accumulate the nitrate form of nitrogen while others do not. Join us as we discuss how nitrogen moves through soils, how we can control its losses, and the surprising connections between nitrate, road salt, and nuclear testing. Related content: Nitrate removal from water (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0kiYmKShsw); How does water (and things like nitrate) move through bedrock? (https://www.mda.state.mn.us/segwresources#Videos); Great video on water movement through soils (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GgCwmAYj5s). To learn more: Chloride in freshwater lakes (https://www.pnas.org/content/114/17/4453.full/); Integrating water management practices to remove nitrate (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbm2uemjBPE&t=3s); Wetlands, bioreactors and other ways to remove nitrate from water (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-irSjH2e1w); Groundwater flow in southeastern Minnesota (https://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/162612).
The Story of Nitrogen Episode 4- The Soil Bank Account
(2021-11-15) Klinger, Greg; Bugeja, Shane; Castellano, Mike; Frelich, Lee; Pyfferroen, Tom
In the Midwest, most of the nitrogen our crops use comes from organic matter in the soil rather than the fertilizers we apply. The amount of nitrogen the soil provides can change dramatically from year to year, leading to added complication for farmers. Are there ways to help us predict how our soil management, and other factors like the weather, influence the nitrogen that's available to crops? To learn more: Nitrogen, organic matter decomposition, and corn yields (https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1206&context=agron_pubs); Earthworm invasion into previously earthworm-free forests (https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/175603/Frelich%20et%20al%202006.pdf?sequence=1).
The Story of Nitrogen Episode 3- Winners and Losers
(2021-11-08) Klinger, Greg; Bugeja, Shane; Potter, Bruce; Carey, Chelsea; Egenreither, Sada
Why do some creatures that live in the soil benefit from more nitrogen while others are harmed? This episode tackles the question of how soil microbes are affected by nitrogen fertilizers and how this in turn changes the way we need to manage our soil. Along the way, we get some help from scientists Bruce Potter, Chelsea Carey, and Sada Egenreither, a few bad wildlife analogies, and Lucille Ball. Related content: The "I Love Lucy" chocolate factory conveyor belt (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkQ58I53mjk). To learn more: How changes in nitrogen impact nitrogen-"burning" (nitrifying) microbes (http://manuscript.elsevier.com/S0038071716300840/pdf/S0038071716300840.pdf); DNRA and nitrogen cycling microbes in agricultural soils (https://mediaspace.illinois.edu/media/t/1_oikxfoy8).
The Story of Nitrogen Episode 2- The Leaky Barrel, continued
(2021-11-01) Klinger, Greg; Bugeja, Shane; Filstrup, Chris; Rabalais, Nancy; Adams, Mary Beth
Many of our crops need less nitrogen fertilizer when grown after legumes, such as soybeans, alfalfa, or field peas. Legumes are plants that can take- or "fix" - nitrogen out of the air, where it exists in near limitless amounts, and add it to the soil. This ability to fix nitrogen is common in nature, in environments as diverse as fields, forests, lakes, deserts, and seas, and yet the demand for nitrogen by living things is often greater than the supply produced by nitrogen fixation. Why is this the case? We look at nitrogen in our water, forests, and cropland to get to the bottom of this fundamental question. Related content: Nitrogen saturation symptoms in the Fernow forest (https://www.fs.fed.us/nrs/pubs/jrnl/1996/ne_1996_peterjohn_001.pdf); The complicated relationship between nitrogen, phosphorus, and eutrophication in lakes (https://doi.org/10.1080/20442041.2017.1375176); Hypoxia and eutrophication in the Gulf of Mexico (https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-06/documents/hypoxia_integrated_assessment_final.pdf).
The Story of Nitrogen Episode 1- The Leaky Barrel
(2021-10-25) Klinger, Greg; Bugeja, Shane; Filstrup, Chris; Rabalais, Nancy
How does nitrogen shape life in environments as diverse as cropland, lakes, and oceans? Why does nitrogen increase the abundance of life in some places while decreasing it in others? And why do we sometimes consider these changes "good" or "bad"? We start to tackle these questions in conversations with experts on Minnesota lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. Related content: Nitrogen and phosphorus in lakes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDn7muQwvzQ). To learn more: The complicated relationship between nitrogen, phosphorus, and eutrophication in lakes (https://doi.org/10.1080/20442041.2017.1375176); Hypoxia and eutrophication in the Gulf of Mexico (https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-06/documents/hypoxia_integrated_assessment_final.pdf).
The Story of Nitrogen Episode 0 - Trailer
(2021-08-31) Klinger, Greg; Bugeja, Shane