Urination data for Welsh Mountain ewes grazing upland and lowland pastures in North Wales, 2016
Marsden, K.A., Lush, L., Holmberg, J.A., Whelan, M.J., King, A.J., Wilson, R.P., Charteris, A.F., Cardenas, L.M., Jones, D.L., Chadwick, D.R. (2021). Urination data for Welsh Mountain ewes grazing upland and lowland pastures in North Wales, 2016. NERC Environmental Information Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/385ec5ab-0c47-46fc-b5df-008ca024296f
The data contains urination metrics including frequency, volume, chemical composition, estimated urine patch N loading rates and metabolomics profile of individual urine events from sheep (Welsh Mountain ewe) grazing a semi-improved upland pasture and a lowland improved pasture located in North Wales, UK. Urine collection studies were run in the spring, summer and autumn of 2016 for the semi-improved site and in autumn of 2016 on the lowland improved pasture. Sheep were housed in urine collection pens and while in the pens, each individual urine event was collected and stored separately. The study was conducted as a wider part of the NERC funded Uplands-N2O project (Grant No: NE/M015351/1). The frequency, volume and chemical composition of individual urine events has implications for nitrogen losses from the grazed pasture ecosystem, including emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide, and nitrate leaching.
Barren Welsh Mountain ewes (n = 6) were acclimatised on their respective pastures by allowing them to graze freely for five days prior to urine collection. Typically, between the hours of 10:00 and 16:00 the sheep were held in urine collection pens, which had slatted flooring raised above the ground and a urine collection tray located beneath. This allowed for the collection and storage of individual urine events from the individual sheep. Sheep were fed ad libitum while in the pens with cut and carried feed from the same respective pastures. Samples of the feed were retained and sent for forage analyses by Sciantec Analytical (Cawood Scientific Ltd., North Yorkshire, UK). Measurements of sheep urine frequency and volume were recorded in the field, including time and date of each urine event. These were extrapolated to provide urine parameters including an estimate of daily frequency, daily volume and daily N excretion and N loading rates per urine patch. Upon return to the laboratory the urine samples were stored frozen before being analysed for their chemical constituents including the urine pH, EC, total organic C, total N, urea, nitrate, ammonium, amino acid, allantoin, creatinine, uric acid, hippuric acid, benzoic acid, Ca, Na and K contents. The dataset also contains individual urine event metabolomics profile for a subsample of the urine for spring compared to summer (semi-improved site) and for the autumn semi-improved pasture compared to autumn improved pasture. The data also includes meteorological data for each study. Readers are directed to the supporting documentation for further analytical details and quality control procedures for the measurements undertaken.
NERC Environmental Information Data Centre
Grazing behaviour, urine composition and soil properties are key drivers of nitrous oxide emissions from livestock urine in the uplands (Uplands-N2O)