A paper by ERG group member Konrad Krogstad published in Frontiers in Environmental Science examines the effects of freeze-thaw cycles on nitrogen, sulfate, and chloride leaching from fertilized and unfertilized soil columns. Experiment and model results show that freeze-thaw cycles promote nitrifying conditions in the upper oxidized portion of the fertilized soil columns. The findings indicate that unwanted nitrogen enrichment in agroecosystems caused by pre-winter nitrogen fertilizer application may be exacerbated by changing freeze-thaw activity.
