Long-term combined chemical and manure fertilizations increase soil organic carbon and total nitrogen in aggregate fractions at three typical cropland soils in China

Y T He; W J Zhang; M G Xu; X G Tong; F X Sun; J Z Wang; S M Huang; P Zhu; X H He

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.06.011

Long-term combined chemical and manure fertilizations increase soil organic carbon and total nitrogen in aggregate fractions at three typical cropland soils in China

Sci Total Environ. 2015 Nov 1:532:635-44. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.06.011. Epub 2015 Jun 25.

Authors

Y T He¹, W J Zhang¹, M G Xu², X G Tong³, F X Sun¹, J Z Wang¹, S M Huang⁴, P Zhu⁵, X H He⁶

Affiliations

¹ Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Crop Nutrition and Fertilization, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
² Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Crop Nutrition and Fertilization, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China. Electronic address: xuminggang@caas.cn.
³ College of Resources and Environment, Northwest A & F University, Yangling, Shannxi 712100, China.
⁴ Institute of Plant Nutrition, Resources and Environment, Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou 450002, China.
⁵ Centre of Agricultural Environment and Resources, Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun 130033, China.
⁶ Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Crop Nutrition and Fertilization, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China; School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

PMID: 26119378
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.06.011

Abstract

Soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN) are important factors of soil fertility. However, effects of the combined chemical fertilizer and organic manure or straw on these factors and their relationships are less addressed under long-term fertilizations. This study addressed changes in SOC, TN, MBC and MBN at 0-20 cm soil depth under three 17 years (September 1990-September 2007) long-term fertilization croplands along a heat and water gradient in China. Four soil physical fractions (coarse free and fine free particulate organic C, cfPOC and ffPOC; intra-microaggregate POC, iPOC; and mineral associated organic C, MOC) were examined under five fertilizations: unfertilized control, chemical nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) (NPK), NPK plus straw (NPKS, hereafter straw return), and NPK plus manure (NPKM and 1.5NPKM, hereafter manure). Compared with Control, manure significantly increased all tested parameters. SOC and TN in fractions distributed as MOC > iPOC > cfPOC > ffPOC with the highest increase in cfPOC (329.3%) and cfPTN (431.1%), and the lowest in MOC (40.8%) and MTN (45.4%) under manure. SOC significantly positively correlated with MBC, cfPOC, ffPOC, iPOC and MOC (R(2) = 0.51-0.84, P < 0.01), while TN with cfPTN, ffPTN, iPTN and MTN (R(2) = 0.45-0.79, P < 0.01), but not with MBN, respectively. Principal component analyses explained 86.9-91.2% variance of SOC, TN, MBC, MBN, SOC and TN in each fraction. Our results demonstrated that cfPOC was a sensitive SOC indicator and manure addition was the best fertilization for improving soil fertility while straw return should take into account climate factors in Chinese croplands.

Keywords: Calcaric Cambisol; Ferralic Cambisols; Long-term fertilization; Luvic Phaeozems; Microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen; Mineral associated organic C; Particulate organic carbon.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't