Ž . Geoderma 106 2002 273–288 www.elsevier.comrlocatergeoderma Fate of dung-applied copper in a British grassland soil Wolfgang Wilcke a, ) , Roland Bol b , Wulf Amelung a a Institute of Soil Science and Soil Geography, UniÕersity of Bayreuth, D-95440 Bayreuth, Germany b Institute of Grassland and EnÕironmental Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, DeÕon EX20 2SB, UK Received 5 January 2001; received in revised form 28 May 2001; accepted 16 July 2001 Abstract Copper is commonly used as a fodder amendment in cattle nutrition, but little is known about the relation between dung turnover and environmental fate of Cu. We devised a Cu budget for a Ž . common British grassland soil Typic Epiaquept for the initial 70 days after the application of y2 2 Ž. 5.33 kg m of dry dung mass in 0.045 m patches. Three replicated treatments: i no dung Ž. Ž y2 . Ž . Ž control, ii Cu-amended dung 3.2 g Cu m , and iii unamended dung i.e. no extra Cu in the y2 . animal feed, 1.0 g Cu m were established. Total Cu concentrations were determined in the 0–1, 1–5, and 5–10 cm depth layers 14, 28, 42, and 70 days after dung application. We also Ž . determined Cu, pH, and dissolved organic C DOC concentrations in the soil solution at 30 cm depth. Initially, Cu concentrations ranged between 24 and 26 mg kg y1 at all depths in all plots and did not change in the control during 70 days at any depth. The recovery of the applied Cu in the remaining dung, soil, and leachate after 70 days was 5%, 10%, and 2% for the Cu-dung treatment and 18%, 8%, and 2% for the unamended dung treatment leaving )70% of the dung-derived Cu unaccounted for in both dung treatments. In soil, applied Cu was sorbed preferentially to aggregate surfaces where we detected 30 mg Cu kg y1 whilst the aggregate interior contained 26 mg Cu kg y1 . However, the differences between aggregate interior and exterior disappeared 28 days after application. The Cu concentrations in soil solution were closely related with DOC concentrations but not with pH values. The percentage of dung-derived Cu and Ž. C lost by leaching were almost identical. Our results suggest that i dung-applied Cu is mainly Ž. distributed and lost laterally, ii aggregate turnover in a grassland soil may occur within one ) Corresponding author. Tel.: q 49-921-552294; fax: q 49-921-552246. Ž . E-mail address: wolfgang.wilcke@uni-bayreuth.de W. Wilcke . 0016-7061r02r$ - see front matter q 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Ž . PII: S0016-7061 01 00128-8