Martin Chantigny, Ph.D.

Image Martin Chantigny
Scientist, Soil Biochemistry and Nutrient Cycling

My work aims at improving our understanding of the biogeochemistry of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus derived from organic wastes used in agriculture. The goal is to retain these elements in the soil-plant system to minimize transfer to air and water. The results are used to define best management practices that maximize carbon accumulation in soil and nutrient use efficiency by the crops, and that minimize greenhouse gas emissions and nutrient transfer to water courses.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
https://profils-profiles.science.gc.ca/en/research-centre/quebec-research-and-development-centre

Current research and/or projects

Principal Investigator

  • Living Laboratory of the Lac-St-Pierre (In preparation)

  • Resilient crop-livestock systems – Evidencing the mechanisms of C and N stabilisation and restitution in manured soils.

  • Designing resilient dairy production systems in eastern Canada.

  • Agri-environmental assessment of Canadian dairy farms: Towards eco-efficient management of forage crops and manure.

Collaborations:

  • Understanding the role of the soil microbiome in promoting resilient and sustainable agroecosystems.

  • Interdisciplinary Research Laboratories for resilient agroecosystems​: Frelighsburg, Sherbrooke and the Missisquoi Bay.

  • Integrated modelling approach for identifying efficient and resilient BMPs for diverse cropping systems across Canada.

  • Holos and Life Cycle Analysis.

Research and/or project statements

  • Efficient use of organic wastes nitrogen by the crops.

  • Developing integrated crop-livestock systems with resilience to climate change.

  • Understanding the mechanisms of carbon and nitrogen accumulation and restitution in agricultural soils.

  • Developing economically and environmentally sustainable solutions at the farm scale. 

Professional activities / interests

  • Eco-efficient use of livestock effluents.

  • Long-term collaborations with New-Zealand (Plant and Food Research; University of Lincoln), le Denmark (Aarhus University; University of Southern Denmark), France (Agro-Campus Ouest et INRA, Rennes), and Brazil (Universidade Federal de Santa Maria; Universidade Federal de Rio do Grande do Sul).

  • Supervision of several graduate students and post-doctoral fellows.

Education and awards

  • B.Sc. (spec.) in agronomy, Université Laval, 1990

  • Ph.D. Agronomy (spec.) Soil Science, Université Laval, 1996.

  • Fellowships of the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), 1990-1996.

 

International experience and/or work

My international collaborations mainly deal with the understanding of mechanisms involved in the accumulation and restitution of carbon and nitrogen in agricultural soils as a function of management practices pertaining to the use of livestock effluents, plant diversity in crop rotations, and soil tillage. Measuring gaseous nitrogen emissions (ammonia and nitrous oxide) is also an important aspects of my interactions with colleagues from Denmark and Brazil. I currently lead an international network of long-term experiments (Canada, France, Sweden, Brazil, New-Zealand, China) exploring the impact of repeated application of livestock effluents on soil health and fertility, under the project entitled “Resilient crop-livestock systems – Evidencing the mechanisms of C and N stabilisation and restitution in manured soils”.

Key publications

  1. Thivierge, M.-N., Houde, S., Vanasse, A., Bélanger, G., Chantigny, M.H., and Angers, D.A. 2018. Les traits racinaires pour optimiser le système sol-plante. Journée Grandes Cultures 2018 de la Mauricie, Trois-Rivières, QC, December 12, 2018.

    2018 - View publication details

  2. Wertz, S., Goyer, C., Burton, D.L., Zebarth, B.J., Chantigny, M.H. (2018). Processes contributing to nitrite accumulation and concomitant N2O emissions in frozen soils. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, [online] 126 31-39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.08.001

    2018 - View publication details

  3. Hafner, S.D., Pacholski, A., Bittman, S., Burchill, W., Bussink, W., Chantigny, M., Carozzi, M., Génermont, S., Häni, C., Hansen, M.N., Huijsmans, J., Hunt, D., Kupper, T., Lanigan, G., Loubet, B., Misselbrook, T., Meisinger, J.J., Neftel, A., Nyord, T., Pedersen, S.V., Sintermann, J., Thompson, R.B., Vermeulen, B., Vestergaard, A.V., Voylokov, P., Williams, J.R., Sommer, S.G. (2018). The ALFAM2 database on ammonia emission from field-applied manure: Description and illustrative analysis. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, [online] 258 66-79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2017.11.027

    2018 - View publication details

  4. Houde, S., Thivierge, M.-N., Bélanger, G. Chantigny, M.H., Angers, D.A., Fort, F., and Vanasse, A. Monitoring root development of forage grasses in response to defoliations & N fertilization source. International Society of Root Research 10th International Symposium: Exposing the Hidden Half – Root Research at the Forefront of Science, Jerusalem, Israel, July 8–12, 2018 (Poster).

    2018 - View publication details

  5. Houde, S., Thivierge, M.-N. , Bélanger, G., Chantigny, M.H., Angers, D.A., and Vanasse, A. 2018. Suivi des traits racinaires de graminées fourragères en mélange. 32nd Annual Meeting of the Association québécoise des spécialistes en sciences du sol (AQSSS). Quebec, QC, June 13–14, 2018. Oral presentation.

    2018 - View publication details

  6. Thomas, B.W.*, J.K. Whalen, M. Sharifi, M.H. Chantigny, X. Hao. 2018. Nitrogen mineralization in sandy loam and silty clay soils receiving liquid swine and dairy cattle manure. Joint Annual Meeting of Canadian Geophysical Union-Canadian Soil Science Society-Computational Infrastructure in Geodynamics-Eastern Section of the Seismological Society of America-Canadian Society for Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. Niagara Falls, ON, Canada. June 10–14, 2018.

    2018 - View publication details

  7. Houde, S., Thivierge, M.-N., Bélanger, G., Chantigny, M.H., Angers, D.A., and Vanasse, A. Suivi des traits racinaires de graminées fourragères en mélange. 86e Congrès annuel de l’Association francophone pour le savoir (Acfas), Quebec, QC, Canada, May 7–11, 2018. Oral presentation.

    2018 - View publication details

  8. Brin, L.D., Goyer, C., Zebarth, B.J., Burton, D.L., Chantigny, M.H. (2018). Changes in snow cover alter nitrogen cycling and gaseous emissions in agricultural soils. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, [online] 258 91-103. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2018.01.033

    2018 - View publication details

  9. Thivierge, M.-N., Houde, S., Vanasse, A., Bélanger, G., Chantigny, M.H., and Angers, D.A. 2018. Les traits racinaires pour optimiser le système sol-plante. Annual general meeting of the Club agroenvironnemental Dura-Sol Drummond inc., Drummondville, QC, March 23, 2018.

    2018 - View publication details

  10. Thivierge, M.-N., Houde, S., Vanasse, A., Bélanger, G., Chantigny, M.H. et Angers, D.A. 2018. Les traits racinaires pour optimiser le système sol-plante. Présentation orale lors de la Journée INPACQ – Grandes cultures et conservation des sols, Drummondville, Qc, 8 février 2018.

    2018 - View publication details

  11. Houde, S., Thivierge, M.-N., Lachance, C., Chantigny, M.H., Bélanger, G., and Angers, D.A. 2017. Étude des systèmes racinaires. Salon de l’Agriculture, de l’Alimentation et de la Consommation (SAAC), Québec, QC, January 12-14, 2018. Poster.

    2018 - View publication details

  12. Zhang, L., Yang, X., Drury, C., Chantigny, M., Gregorich, E., Miller, J., Bittman, S., Dan Reynolds, W., Yang, J. (2018). Infrared spectroscopy estimation methods for water-dissolved carbon and amino sugars in diverse Canadian agricultural soils. Canadian Journal of Soil Science, [online] 98(3), 484-499. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjss-2018-0027

    2018 - View publication details

  13. Faubert, P., Lemay-Bélisle, C., Bertrand, N., Bouchard, S., Chantigny, M.H., Durocher, S., Paré, M.C., Rochette, P., Tremblay, P., Ziadi, N., Villeneuve, C. (2017). Greenhouse gas emissions following land application of pulp and paper mill sludge on a clay loam soil. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, [online] 250 102-112. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2017.07.040

    2017 - View publication details

  14. Cantú, R.R., Aita, C., Doneda, A., Giacomini, D.A., Dessbesell, A., Arenhardt, M., De Bastiani, G.G., Pujol, S.B., Rochette, P., Chantigny, M.H., Giacomini, S.J. (2017). Alternatives to regular urea for abating N losses in lettuce production under sub-tropical climate. Biology and Fertility of Soils, [online] 53(6), 589-599. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00374-017-1202-4

    2017 - View publication details

  15. Thomas, B.W., Larney, F.J., Chantigny, M.H., Goyer, C., Hao, X. (2017). Fall rye reduced residual soil nitrate and dryland spring wheat grain yield. Agronomy Journal, [online] 109(2), 718-728. http://dx.doi.org/10.2134/agronj2016.10.0616

    2017 - View publication details

  16. Thomas, B.W., Hao, X., Larney, F.J., Goyer, C., Chantigny, M.H., Charles, A. (2017). Non-legume cover crops can increase non-growing season nitrous oxide emissions. Soil Science Society of America Journal, [online] 81(1), 189-199. http://dx.doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2016.08.0269

    2017 - View publication details

  17. Charles, A., Rochette, P., Whalen, J.K., Angers, D.A., Chantigny, M.H., Bertrand, N. (2017). Global nitrous oxide emission factors from agricultural soils after addition of organic amendments: A meta-analysis. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, [online] 236 88-98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2016.11.021

    2017 - View publication details

  18. Gonzatto, R., Aita, C., Bélanger, G., Chantigny, M.H., Miola, E.C.C., Pujol, S.B., Dessbesel, A., Giacomini, S.J. (2017). Response of no-till grain crops to pig slurry application methods and a nitrification inhibitor. Agronomy Journal, [online] 109(4), 1687-1696. http://dx.doi.org/10.2134/agronj2016.09.0547

    2017 - View publication details

  19. Goyer, C., Neupane, S., Nahar, S., Zebarth, B.J., Chantigny, M.H., Whitney, S., Clark, C., and Zeng, J. (2016). "Towards strategies to control common scab.", New Brunswick Seed Producers Workshop, Grand Falls, NB, Canada, January 26, 2016.

    2016 - View publication details

  20. Stoeckli, J., Thomas, B.W., Hao, X., Larney, F.J., Chantigny, M.H., and Goyer, C. (2016). "Water-extractable organic C, ammonium and nitrate dynamics over two non-growing seasons in response to cover crop species and fertilizer source.", 2016 Alberta Soil Science Workshop, Grand Prairies, AB, Canada, February 16-18, 2016. (Abstract)

    2016 - View publication details

Contact

Research facility

Quebec Research and Development Centre
2560 Hochelaga Boulevard
Québec, QC G1V 2J3
Canada

Expertise

Agriculture›Biogeochemistry
Agriculture›Environmental science›Agriculture-environment interactions
Agriculture›Soil science›Manure and slurry management
Agriculture›Soil science›Soil and crop nitrogen cycling

Affiliations

  • Invited scientist, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Departamento do solos, Brasil.

  • Associate Professor, Faculté des sciences de l'agriculture et de l'alimentation, Département de phytologie, Université Laval.

  • Associate Professor, Faculté des sciences de l'agriculture et de l'alimentation, Dépt. de Science du sol et de Génie Agroalimentaire, Université Laval.

  • Adjunct Professor, Dept. Of Plant Agriculture, University of Guelph.

Language

English
French