DURING STORAGE, UP TO 60 PERCENT OF NITROGEN (N) IN MANURE CAN BE LOST TO THE ATMOSPHERE FROM THE SURFACE OF MANURE STORAGE. THE LOST N RESPRESENTS A LOSS OF THE FERTILIZER VALUE OF MANURE AND PRESENTS A POTENTIAL CHALLENGE THAT MAY RESULT IN DAMAGE TO THE ENVIRONMENT, ESPECIALLY, IF THE N IS DEPOSITED IN SENSITIVE ECOSYSTEMS. TYPICALLY, THE N LOSS THROUGH VOLATILIZATION FROM STORED DAIRY MANURE IS ROOTED IN THE DEGRADATION PROCESS VIA MICROBIAL ACTIVITIES. TO DEVELOP MEANINGFUL AND/OR EFFECTIVE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES TO MINIMIZE N LOSS FROM THESE STRUCTURES, IT IS PARAMOUNT TO UNDERSTAND THE MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES AND ASSOCIATED BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES OCCURRING DURING MANURE STORAGE. THE LONG TERM GOAL OF THIS STUDY IS TO UNCOVER THE COMPLEX INTERACTION OF THE MICROBIAL, CHEMICAL, AND PHYSICAL PROCESSES THAT OCCUR IN STORED MANURE TO IMPACT THE TRANSFORMATION AND LOSS OF N. SPECIFICALLY, IT ADDRESSES THE PHYSICAL AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL (INCLUDING MICROBIAL) PROCESSES TO IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF N FATE AND TRANSFORMATION DURING MANURE STORAGE ON DAIRY FARMS. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES ARE TO: (1) ASSESS AND QUANTIFY ACTIVE MICROBIAL CONSORTIA AND THEIR SUMMATIVE EFFECTS ON THE FATE AND TRANSFORMATION OF NITROGEN AND CARBON IN LIQUID DAIRY MANURE DURING STORAGE UNDER NORMAL OPERATING CONDITIONS ON FARM AND (2) LINK THE MICROBIAL CONSORTIA, NITROGEN AND CARBON TRANSFORMATIONS IN MANURE, AND LOSSES OF N (E.G. AMMONIA, NITROUS OXIDE) AND CARBON (METHANE AND CARBON DIOXIDE) TO THE ATMOSPHERE DURING STORAGE. THE OUTCOME OF THIS WORK WILL INCREASE THE UNDERSTANDING OF MICROBIAL DRIVEN TRANSFORMATION AND LOSSES OF NITROGEN DURING MANURE STORAGE. THE RESULTS WILL BE USEFUL IN IMPROVING DECISION SUPPORT TOOLS AND PROCESS BASED MODELS FOR EVALUATING NITROGEN CYCLING AND IDENTIFY AND DESIGN SUITABLE STRATEGIES TO MINIMIZE NITROGEN LOSSES TO THE ENVIRONMENT DURING MANURE STORAGE. BOTH FIELD AND LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS WILL BE CONDUCTED TO COLLECT DATA TO BE USED IN DEVELOPING THENEW KNOWLEDGE ABOUT NITROGEN LOSS FROM STORED MANURE.