ABSTRACT
Measurement of seasonal variations in methane and carbon dioxide emissions from dairy manure management under warm climate conditions

Esin Deri1*, Mutlu Adali2, Halil Baki Ünal1, Ramazan Cengiz Akdeniz3, Ömer Lütfü Elmaci4, and Nuri Azbar5
 
Dairy manure management is a major contributor to greenhouse gases (GHG), and its quantification under warm climatic conditions is essential for improving mitigation strategies and emission inventories. The GHG emissions, including methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2), were quantified in a free-stall dairy farm housing 1300 lactating cows under warm-climate conditions in Izmir, Turkiye. In situ measurements were conducted over a 1 yr period using the flux chamber method across five emission source areas (ESA): Barn floor, paddock, slurry manure storage (SMS), solid manure pile (SMP), and liquid manure lagoon (LML). The data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s HSD test to evaluate seasonal variations (p < 0.05). The highest CH4 flux in SMP in summer (210 µmol m-2 s-1) was 5.1 times higher than winter. The CH4 flux in LML in summer (36.35 µmol m-2 s-1) was 4.8 times higher than winter. In SMS, the highest CH4 flux occurred in autumn (38 µmol m-2 s-1), which was 5.9 times higher than spring. The highest CO2 flux was 1126 µmol m-2 s-1 in SMP in summer. The annual contribution of LML (31.3 t CH4 yr-1) in all ESA is 61.85%. The farms annual emission factors for CH4 (EFCH4) and CO2 (EFCO2) are 39.59 and 979.11 kg hd-1 yr-1, respectively. The highest EFCH4 is 0.117 kg CH4 hd-1 d-1 during summer in LML. Additionally, it is understood that the combination of rubber mats and scraper systems may comparatively reduce in-barn CH4 formation relative to barns where other bedding materials are used. These results indicate that, particularly in dairy farms located in warm climate regions such as Turkiye, high emissions occur from liquid manure stored in open-air conditions at high temperatures and development of liquid manure management strategies priority for emission mitigation.
Keywords: Dairy cattle, greenhouse gas, lagoon, livestock waste, manure management, mitigation.
1Ege University, Department of Agricultural Structures and Irrigation, Izmir 35100, Türkiye.
2Republic of Türkiye Minister of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, State Meteorological Service, Izmir Regional Directorate, Izmir 35290, Türkiye.
3Ege University, Department of Agricultural Engineering and Technologies, Izmir 35100, Türkiye.
4Ege University, Department of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Izmir 35100, Türkiye.
5Ege University, Department of Bioengineering, Izmir 35100, Türkiye.
*Corresponding author (esin.deri@ege.edu.tr)