Processes leading to N2O and NO emissions from two different Chinese soils under different soil moisture contents

Background and Aims

Great attention has been paid to N₂O emissions from paddy soils under summer rice-winter wheat double-crop rotation, while less focus was given to the NO emissions. Besides, neither mechanism is completely understood. Therefore, this study aimed at evaluating the relative importance of nitrification and denitrification to N₂O and NO emissions from the two soils at different soil moisture contents

Methods

N₂O and NO emissions during one winter wheat season were simultaneously measured in situ in two rice-wheat based field plots at two different locations in Jiangsu Province, China. One soil was neutral in pH with silt loam texture (NSL), the other soil alkaline in pH with a clay texture (AC). A ¹⁵?N tracer incubation experiment was conducted in the laboratory to evaluate the relative importance of nitrification and denitrification for N₂O and NO emissions at soil moisture contents of 40 % water holding capacity (WHC), 65 % WHC and 90 % WHC.

Results

Higher N₂O emission rates in the AC soil than in the NSL soil were found both in the field and in the laboratory experiments; however, the differences in N₂O emissions between AC soil and NSL soil were smaller in the field than in the laboratory. In the latter experiment, nitrification was observed to be the more important source of N₂O emissions (>70 %) than denitrification, regardless of the soils and moisture treatments, with the only exception of the AC soil at 90 % WHC, at which the contributions of nitrification and denitrification to N₂O emissions were comparable. The ratios of NO/N₂O also supported the evidence that the nitrification process was the dominant source of N₂O and NO both in situ and in the laboratory. The proportion of nitrified N emitted as N₂O (P _N2O ) in NSL soil were around 0.02 % in all three moisture treatments, however, P _N2O in the AC soil (0.04 % to 0.10 %) tended to decrease with increasing soil moisture content.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that N₂O emission rates obtained from laboratory incubation experiments are not suitable for the estimation of the true amount of N₂O fluxes on a field scale. Besides, the variations of P _N2O with soil property and soil moisture content should be taken into account in model simulations of N₂O emission from soils.     

CH4 emissions from rice paddies managed according to farmer's practice in Hunan, China

We measured CH₄ emissions from ricepaddies managed by farmer's practices inChangsha, Hunan Province, China, from 1995 to1997. During the winter season, rice fieldswere left fallow under either drained(C-Fallow) or flooded conditions (C-Flood), andplanted with either Chinese milk vetch (C-GM)or oil-seed rape (C-Rape). The organic manureproduced in the winter (weeds, Chinese milkvetch, or oil-seed rape straw) was incorporatedin situ before the early-ricetransplanting. Both early-rice and late-ricestraws were removed and the soil was notamended with any exogenous organic manure. For1996 to 1997, the average seasonal CH₄emission for the double rice cropping periodwas the highest from the plot that was floodedin the winter (103.5 g CH₄ m^–2) andlowest from the plot planted and incorporatedwith Chinese milk vetch (32.6 gCH₄ m^–2). Precipitation in the winternot only affected growth of green manure, whichwas incorporated in situ, but might alsoaffect CH₄ emissions during the subsequentrice growing period. Therefore, a simplerelationship could not be found between theincorporated amount of green manure andCH₄ emission. In the plots incorporatedwith vetch and oil-seed rape straw CH₄emissions were significantly less during thesubsequent late-rice period than during theearly-rice period. This phenomenon might beattributed to a ``priming effect' of greenmanure, which exhausted soil labile organicmatter. Based on the CH₄ fluxmeasurements, the total CH₄ emissions fromrice fields in Hunan Province during the ricegrowing season were estimated as 1.56 TgCH₄ in 1996 and 1.06 Tg CH₄ in 1997.Large variation of precipitation in the winterwould be an important factor controlling theannual variation of CH₄ emissions from thetreatments.     

氮形态转化途径研究的新进展──厌气铵氧化及其应用前景

20世纪90年代初在污泥处理系统中发现了氮素形态转化的新途径--厌气铵氧化过程.厌气铵氧化过程是铵以亚硝酸根为电子受体在自养细菌参数下氧化成氮气的过程.但目前尚无土壤、河、湖、海底泥等自然系统中是否存在厌气铵氧化过程的报道.由于该过程无需外加有机碳,耗氧和处理产生污泥少,用于污泥脱氮成本较低,具有很大潜力.     

Quantification of N2O fluxes from soil–plant systems may be biased by the applied gas chromatograph methodology

With regard to measuring nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions from biological sources, there are three most widely adopted methods that use gas chromatograph with an electron capture detector (GC–ECD). They use: (a) nitrogen (N₂) as the carrier gas (DN); (b) ascarite as a carbon dioxide (CO₂) trap with DN (DN-Ascarite); and (c) a mixture gas of argon and methane as the carrier (AM). Additional methods that use either a mixture of argon and methane (or of CO₂ and N₂) as a make-up gas with the carrier nitrogen or soda lime (or ascarite) as a CO₂ trap with the carrier helium have also been adopted in a few studies. To test the hypothesis that the use of DN sometimes considerably biases measurements of N₂O emissions from plants, soils or soil–plant systems, experiments were conducted involving DN, AM and DN-Ascarite. When using DN, a significant relationship appeared between CO₂ concentrations and the apparent N₂O concentrations in air samples. The use of DN led to significantly overestimated N₂O emissions from detached fresh plants in static chamber enclosures. Meanwhile, comparably lower emissions were found when using either the DN-Ascarite or AM methods. When an N₂O flux (from a soil or a soil–plant system), measured by DN in combination with sampling from the enclosure of a static opaque chamber, was greater than 200 μg N m^?2 h^?1, no significant difference was found between DN and DN-Ascarite. When the DN-measured fluxes were within the ranges of <?30, ?30–0, 0–30, 30–100 and 100–200 μg N m^?2 h^?1, significant differences that amounted to ?72, ?22, 5, 38 and 64 μg N m^?2 h^?1, respectively, appeared in comparison to DN-Ascarite. As a result, the DN measurements in rice–wheat and vegetable fields overestimated both annual total N₂O emissions (by 7–62%, p?<?0.05) and direct emission factors for applied nitrogen (by 6–65%). These results suggest the necessity of reassessing the available data determined from DN measurements before they are applied to inventory estimation. Further studies are required to explore appropriate approaches for the necessary reassessment. Our results also imply that the DN method should not be adopted for measuring N₂O emissions from weak sources (e.g., with intensities less than 200 μg N m^?2 h^?1). In addition, we especially do not recommend the use of DN to simultaneously measure N₂O and CO₂ with the same ECD.     

Methane emission from paddy soils as affected by wheat straw returning mode

To study influence of wheat straw returning mode on CH₄ emission from paddy soils, a field experiment was conducted at Jurong, Jiangsu Province, China in 2006. Five treatments, no wheat straw applied (CK), wheat straw evenly incorporated into the topsoil (WI), wheat straw buried in ditches (WD), wheat straw strip-mulched onto the field surface (WM) and wheat straw burned in-situ (WB), were laid out in a randomized block design. Results showed that seasonal CH₄ emissions ranged from 6.9 to 28.1 g CH₄ m^?2. Wheat straw incorporation significantly increased CH₄ emission. No significant difference was observed between Treatments WI and WD in total CH₄ emission. Compared with Treatment WI, Treatment WM reduced total CH₄ emission by 32% and Treatment WB by 42%. Treatment WM was about 27% higher than Treatment CK in grain yield. Based on the findings, the best management of wheat straw prior to rice cultivation is strip-mulching wheat straw onto the field surface, which largely reduced CH₄ emission from rice fields with no decrease in rice yield.     

温度对土壤氧化大气CH4的影响

讨论了温度对土壤氧化大气CH4的影响及其机理。当温度较低时土壤也具有一定的氧化大气CH4的能力,两者具有很高的相关关系,但是由于CH4氧化菌对大气CH4具有很强的亲和力以及大气CH4氧化所需活化能较低,因此土壤氧化大气CH4对温度的敏感度远低于产CH4,导致温度系数Q10较小。当大气CH4和O2扩散进入土壤的速率等于土壤中CH4和O2消耗的速率时,大气CH4氧化达到最大值,此时的土壤温度就是CH4氧化的最佳温度。如果温度继续升高并大于最佳温度,由于CH4氧化菌无法与利用O2能力更强的硝化细菌和其它微生物竞争利用土壤空气中有限的O2,使得土壤中CH4氧化菌的繁殖和活性降低。这一作用机理的提出较好地解释了为什么随着温度升高土壤氧化大气CH4能力呈低高低的态势。     

The microbial changes during the biological control of cucumber damping-off disease using biocontrol agents and reductive soil disinfestation

Cucumber damping-off disease mainly caused by Rhizoctonia solani leads to serious loss in agricultural production. In this study, the effective and environmentally friendly methods, using two biological agents combined with applying organic matter or reductive soil disinfestation (RSD), were performed to control the disease. Real-time PCR and MiSeq pyrosequencing were used to investigate the microbial community changes during the biocontrol process. The results showed that the applications of organic matter and antagonists (Ant) significantly decreased R. solani population and disease incidence, and increased soil microbial population and activity. However, antagonists application combined with RSD (RSD + Ant) behaved much better in nearly all aspects, and facilitated to maintain the population and activity of antagonists. Compared to the applications of organic matter and antagonists, the combination of RSD and antagonists changed soil microbial community structure to a larger extent. In conclusion, the applications of biocontrol agents and organic matter improved soil microbial community and decreased cucumber damping-off disease incidence, but the combination of RSD and the antagonists was a more promising method for the improvement of soil microbial community and the stable and successful control of the disease.     

冬作季节土地管理对水稻土CH_4排放季节变化的影响

通过温室盆栽试验对水稻土CH4 排放的季节变化及冬作季节土地管理的影响进行了研究 .结果表明 ,冬作季节种植紫云英、淹水休闲及干燥休闲但泡水前施用稻草处理泡水后 3 0dCH4 排放量分别高达 13 3d观测期总排放量的 67.5 %、3 5 .5 %及 3 3 .3 % ,且在泡水后第 13天及水稻移栽后第 7、40、91天分别出现 4个CH4 排放高峰 ;而种植小麦和干燥休闲但冬作前施用稻草处理泡水后 5 5dCH4 排放量才占观测期总排放量的 6.74%和 0 .2 7% ,随后至水稻收获CH4 排放通量也不高 .冬作季节土地管理引起的水稻生长期土壤Eh季节变化的差异是造成CH4 排放通量季节变化差异的主要原因     

DCD不同施用时间对小麦生长期N2O排放的影响

通过田间试验,采用静态箱法研究相同施肥条件下,DCD不同施用时间(基肥配施,追肥配施,基追肥按比例配施)对麦季N2O排放的影响.结果表明,小麦生长期施肥配施DCD减少麦季N2O排放.从小麦整个生长季来看,与尿素处理相比,基肥配施减少N2O排放21％,追肥配施减少N2O排放26％,基追肥按比例配施减少N2O排放35％,方差分析均达显著水平(P＜0.05),其中基肥配施主要减少小麦播种-返青期N2O排放,追肥配施主要减少小麦返青-成熟期N2O排放,而基追肥按比例配施DCD减少整个小麦生长季N2O排放.在小麦的整个生长阶段,施加DCD处理的土壤NH+4-N浓度和表观硝化率均高于未施加DCD的处理,且土壤NH+4-N浓度随时间的延长而降低.在小麦播种-返青期,基肥配施处理和基追肥按比例配施处理土壤NH+4-N浓度和表观硝化率高于追肥配施处理和对照处理;在小麦的返青-成熟期,追肥配施处理和基追肥按比例配施处理土壤NH+4-N浓度和表观硝化率高于基肥配施处理和对照处理.从小麦产量来看,与尿素处理相比,基肥配施和基追肥按比例配施显著增加小麦产量,而追肥配施处理小麦产量无显著性差异.基追肥按比例配施DCD在提高小麦产量的同时显著减少N2O排放,具有大田推广的现实意义;基肥与追肥配施DCD对N2O减排效果除了与施用时间有关外,还应将降雨或灌溉量的年际变化考虑在内.     

Reductive soil disinfestation (RSD) alters gross N transformation rates and reduces NO and N2O emissions in degraded vegetable soils

Background and aims

Continuous vegetable cultivation in greenhouses can easily induce soil degradation, which considerably affects the development of sustainable vegetable production. Recently, the reductive soil disinfestation (RSD) is widely used as an alternative to chemical soil disinfestations to improve degraded greenhouse vegetable soils. Considering the importance of nitrogen (N) for plant growth and environment effect, the internal N transformation processes and rates should be well investigated in degraded vegetable soils treated by RSD, but few works have been undertaken.

Methods

Three RSD-treated and three untreated degraded vegetable soils were chosen and a ¹⁵?N tracing incubation experiment differentially labeled with ¹⁵NH₄NO₃ or NH₄ ¹⁵NO₃ was conducted at 25 °C under 50 % water holding capacity (WHC) for 96 h. Soil gross N transformation rates were calculated using a ¹⁵?N tracing model combined with Markov Chain Monte Carlo Metropolis algorithm (Müller et al. 2007), while the emissions of N₂O and NO were also measured.

Results

RSD could significantly enhance the soil microbial NH₄ ⁺ immobilization rate, the heterotrophic and autotrophic nitrification rates, and the NO₃ ^? turnover time. The ratio of heterotrophic nitrification to total inorganic N supply rate (mineralization + heterotrophic nitrification) increased greatly from 5.4 % in untreated vegetable soil to 56.1 % in treated vegetable soil. In addition, low release potential of NO and N₂O was observed in RSD-treated vegetable soil, due to the decrease in the NO and N₂O product ratios from heterotrophic and autotrophic nitrifications. These significant differences in gross N transformation rates, the supply processes and capacity of inorganic N, and the NO and N₂O emissions between untreated and treated vegetable soils could be explained by the elimination of accumulated NO₃ ^?, increased pH, and decreased electrical conductivity (EC) caused by RSD. Noticeably, the NO₃ ^? consumption rates were still significantly lower than the NO₃ ^? production rates in RSD-treated vegetable soil.

Conclusions

Except for improving soil chemical properties, RSD could significantly alter the supply processes of inorganic N and reduce the release potential of N₂O and NO in RSD-treated degraded vegetable soil. In order to retard the re-occurrence of NO₃ ^? accumulation, acidification and salinization and to promote the long-term productivity of greenhouse vegetable fields, the rational use of N fertilizer should be paid great attention to farmers in vegetable cultivation.