Nitrogen leaching Data

We report on trends in nitrate-nitrogen from livestock that has leached from soil per year across New Zealand since 1990.

Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plant growth. It occurs naturally, but in agricultural systems more nitrogen is commonly added to soils as fertiliser or as urine or dung from livestock. Not all the additional nitrogen can be used by plants and microorganisms, so some nitrate-nitrogen may leach (drain) from the soil. Livestock urine is the dominant source of nitrate-nitrogen leached from soil. Leached nitrate-nitrogen can enter groundwater and waterways, potentially causing ecological harm. The amount of nitrate-nitrogen leaching from the soil varies around the country as a result of different land uses, climates, and soils.

More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

Summary report available at www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/fresh-water/spatial-n...

Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plant growth. It occurs naturally in the environment but is added in agricultural processes (typically as fertiliser) to boost production. Although much of the applied nitrogen is taken up by plants, livestock waste returns a considerable amount to the soil. Nitrate formed from this waste easily drains (leaches) from the soil before plants can absorb it, and it can enter waterways, potentially harming ecosystems.

This dataset relates to the "Trends in nitrogen leaching from agricultural activities" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.