Research Advances of Effects of Land Use Pattern on Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in Grassland Ecosystem

The grassland is the largest terrestrial ecosystem in China,and greenhouse gas fluxes such as CO2,CH4 and N2O play an important role in the global climate change. The differences in grazing,cultivation and management measures will affect greenhouse gas emissions in grassland ecosystem. Studies suggest that reclamation will lead to increased CO2 fluxes,and fertilization will lead to increased N2 O fluxes; no grazing in summer can reduce greenhouse gas emissions,but impacts of grazing and management measures on greenhouse gas fluxes have not yet reached the same conclusion. The different results may be related to local natural conditions,management measures and research methods. Future research should be focused on unity and standardization in these areas,making the results scientific and comparable,and finally providing the basis for emission reduction of greenhouse gases in grassland ecosystem.

Responses of greenhouse gas fluxes to experimental warming in wheat season under conventional tillage and no-tillage fields

Understanding the effects of warming on greenhouse gas（GHG, such as N2O, CH4 and CO2 ）feedbacks to climate change represents the major environmental issue. However, little information is available on how warming effects on GHG fluxes in farmland of North China Plain（NCP）. An infrared warming simulation experiment was used to assess the responses of N2O, CH4 and CO2 to warming in wheat season of 2012–2014 from conventional tillage（CT） and no-tillage（NT） systems. The results showed that warming increased cumulative N2O emission by 7.7% in CT but decreased it by 9.7% in NT fields（p 〈 0.05）. Cumulative CH4 uptake and CO2 emission were increased by 28.7%–51.7% and 6.3%–15.9% in both two tillage systems,respectively（p 〈 0.05）. The stepwise regressions relationship between GHG fluxes and soil temperature and soil moisture indicated that the supply soil moisture due to irrigation and precipitation would enhance the positive warming effects on GHG fluxes in two wheat seasons.However, in 2013, the long-term drought stress due to infrared warming and less precipitation decreased N2O and CO2 emission in warmed treatments. In contrast, warming during this time increased CH4 emission from deep soil depth. Across two years wheat seasons, warming significantly decreased by 30.3% and 63.9% sustained-flux global warming potential（SGWP） of N2O and CH4 expressed as CO2 equivalent in CT and NT fields, respectively. However, increase in soil CO2 emission indicated that future warming projection might provide positive feedback between soil C release and global warming in NCP.

Gas kinetic flux solver based finite volume weighted essentially non-oscillatory scheme for inviscid compressible flows

A high-order gas kinetic flux solver(GKFS)is presented for simulating inviscid compressible flows.The weighted essentially non-oscillatory(WENO)scheme on a uniform mesh in the finite volume formulation is combined with the circular function-based GKFS(C-GKFS)to capture more details of the flow fields with fewer grids.Different from most of the current GKFSs,which are constructed based on the Maxwellian distribution function or its equivalent form,the C-GKFS simplifies the Maxwellian distribution function into the circular function,which ensures that the Euler or Navier-Stokes equations can be recovered correctly.This improves the efficiency of the GKFS and reduces its complexity to facilitate the practical application of engineering.Several benchmark cases are simulated,and good agreement can be obtained in comparison with the references,which demonstrates that the high-order C-GKFS can achieve the desired accuracy.

The Relationship of Sulfate-methane Interface,the Methane Flux and the Underlying Gas Hydrate

The sulfate-methane interface is an important biogeochemical identification interface for the areas with high methane flux and containing gas hydrate. Above the sulfate-methane interface, the sulfate concentration in the sediment is consumed progressively for the decomposition of the organic matter and anaerobic methane oxidation. Below the sulfate-methane interface, the methane concentration increases continuously with the depth. Based on the variation characters of the sulfate and methane concentration around the sulfate-methane interface, it is feasible to estimate the intensity of the methane flux, and thereafter to infer the possible occurrence of gas hydrate. The geochemical data of the pore water taken from the northern slope of the South China Sea show the sulfate-methane interface is relatively shallow, which indicates that this area has the high methane flux. It is considered that the high methane flux is most probably caused by the occurrence of underlying gas hydrate in the northern slope of the South China Sea.

Comparisons of the effects of different drying methods on soil nitrogen fractions:Insights into emissions of reactive nitrogen gases(HONO and NO)

Reactive nitrogen(Nr)emission from soils,e.g.,nitrous acid(HONO)and nitric oxide(NO),is a key process of the global nitrogen(N)cycle and has significant implications for atmospheric chemistry.To understand the underlying mechanisms of soil Nr emissions,air-dried or oven-dried soils are commonly used in the laboratory.To date,few studies have compared the effects of different drying methods on soil Nr gas fluxes and N fractions.Here,the authors studied soil water content,pH,(in)organic N content,and Nr gas fluxes of air-dried,freeze-dried,oven-dried,and fresh soils from different land-use types.The results showed that the soil pH of air-dried and oven-dried samples was significantly lower compared with fresh soil from farmland and grassland,but higher compared with forest soil.The difference in soil pH between freeze-dried and fresh soil(mean±standard deviation:0.52±0.31)was the lowest.In general,all drying methods increased the soil NH4+-N,NO3−-N,and dissolved organic N contents compared with fresh soil(P<0.05).The maximum HONO and NO flux and total emissions during a full wetting–drying cycle of fresh soil were also increased by air-drying and oven-drying(P<0.001),but comparable with freeze-dried soil(P>0.2).In conclusion,all drying methods should be considered for use in studies on the land–atmosphere interface and biogeochemical N cycling,whereas the freeze-drying method might be better for studies involving the measurement of soil Nr gas fluxes.

Estimate of Global Sea-Air CO_2 Flux with Sea-State-Dependent Parameterization

Although the annual global sea-air CO2 flux has been estimated extensively with various wind-dependent-k parameterizations,uncertainty still exists in the estimates. The sea-state-dependent-k parameterization is expected to improve the uncertainty existing in these estimates. In the present study,the annual global sea-air CO2 flux is estimated with the sea-state-dependent-k parameterization proposed by Woolf(2005) ,using NOAA/NCEP reanalysis wind speed and hindcast wave data from 1998 to 2006,and a new estimate,-2.18 Gt C year-1,is obtained,which is comparable with previous estimates with biochemical methods. It is interesting to note that the averaged value of previous estimates with various wind-dependent-k parameterizations is almost identical to that of previous estimates with biochemical methods by various authors,and that the new estimate is quite consistent with these averaged estimates.

Nonequilibrium Atmospheric Pressure Ar/O_2 Plasma Jet:Properties and Application to Surface Cleaning

In this study an atmospheric pressure Ar/O_2 plasma jet is generated to study the effects of applied voltage and gas flux rate to the behavior of discharge and the metal surface cleaning.The increase in applied voltage leads to increases of the root mean square（rms） current,the input power and the gas temperature.Furthermore,the optical emission spectra show that the emission intensities of metastable argon and atomic oxygen increase with increasing applied voltage.However,the increase in gas flux rate leads to a reduction of the rms current,the input power and the gas temperature.Furthermore,the emission intensities of metastable argon and atomic oxygen decrease when gas flux rate increases.Contact angles are measured to estimate the cleaning performance,and the results show that the increase of applied voltage can improve the cleaning performance.Nevertheless,the increase of gas flux rate cannot improve the cleaning performance.Contact angles are compared for different input powers and gas flux rates to search for a better understanding of the major mechanism for surface cleaning by plasma jets.

Using triple oxygen isotopes and oxygen-argon ratio to quantify ecosystem production in the mixed layer of northern South China Sea slope region

Quantifying the gross and net production is an essential component of carbon cycling and marine ecosystem studies.Triple oxygen isotope measurements and the O_(2)/Ar ratio are powerful indices in quantifying the gross primary production and net community production of the mixed layer zone,respectively.Although there is a substantial advantage in refining the gas exchange term and water column vertical mixing calibration,application of mixed layer depth history to the gas exchange term and its contribution to reducing indices error are unclear.Therefore,two cruises were conducted in the slope regions of the northern South China Sea in October 2014(autumn)and June 2015(spring).Discrete water samples at Station L07 in the upper 150 m depth were collected for the determination ofδ^(17)0,δ^(18)O,and the O_(2)/Ar ratio of dissolved gases.Gross oxygen production(GOP)was estimated using the triple oxygen isotopes of the dissolved O_(2),and net oxygen production(NOP)was calculated using O_(2)/Ar ratio and O_(2)concentration.The vertical mixing effect in NOP was calibrated via a N_(2)O based approach.GOP for autumn and spring was(169±23)mmol/(m^(2)·d)(by O_(2))and(189±26)mmol/(m^(2)·d)(by O_(2)),respectively.While NOP was 1.5 mmol/(m^(2)·d)(by O_(2))in autumn and 8.2 mmol/(m^(2)·d)(by O_(2))in spring.Application of mixed layer depth history in the gas flux parametrization reduced up to 9.5%error in the GOP and NOP estimations.A comparison with an independent O_(2)budget calculation in the diel observation indicated a26%overestimation in the current GOP,likely due to the vertical mixing effect.Both GOP and NOP in June were higher than those in October.Potential explanations for this include the occurrence of an eddy process in June,which may have exerted a submesoscale upwelling at the sampling station,and also the markedly higher terrestrial impact in June.

Effect of drainage on CO_2, CH_4, and N_2O fluxes from aquaculture ponds during winter in a subtropical estuary of China

Aquaculture ponds are dominant features of the landscape in the coastal zone of China.Generally,aquaculture ponds are drained during the non-culture period in winter.However,the effects of such drainage on the production and flux of greenhouse gases（GHGs）from aquaculture ponds are largely unknown.In the present study,field-based research was performed to compare the GHG fluxes between one drained pond（DP,with a water depth of 0.05 m）and one undrained pond（UDP,with a water depth of 1.16 m）during one winter in the Min River estuary of southeast China.Over the entire study period,the mean CO2flux in the DP was（0.75±0.12）mmol/（m^2·hr）,which was significantly higher than that in the UDP of（-0.49±0.09）mmol/（m^2·hr）（p0.01）.This indicates that drainage drastically transforms aquaculture ponds from a net sink to a net source of CO2in winter.Mean CH4and N2O emissions were significantly higher in the DP compared to those in the UDP（CH4=（0.66±0.31）vs.（0.07±0.06）mmol/（m^2·hr）and N2O=（19.54±2.08）vs.（0.01±0.04）μmol/（m^2·hr））（p〈0.01）,suggesting that drainage would also significantly enhance CH4and N2O emissions.Changes in environmental variables（including sediment temperature,p H,salinity,redox status,and water depth）contributed significantly to the enhanced GHG emissions following pond drainage.Furthermore,analysis of the sustained-flux global warming and cooling potentials indicated that the combined global warming potentials of the GHG fluxes were significantly higher in the DP than in the UDP（p〈0.01）,with values of739.18 and 26.46 mg CO2-eq/（m^2·hr）,respectively.Our findings suggested that drainage of aquaculture ponds can increase the emissions of potent GHGs from the coastal zone of China to the atmosphere during winter,further aggravating the problem of global warming.

A 2-year study on the effect of biochar on methane and nitrous oxide emissions in an intensive rice-wheat cropping system

The impacts of biochar addition with nitrogen fertilizer(Urea-N)on greenhouse gas(GHG)fluxes and grain yields are not comprehensively understood.Therefore,we designed a field experiment in an intensive rice-wheat cropping system located in the Taihu Lake region of China and measured CH4 and N_(2)O emissions for 2 consecutive years to examine the impacts of biochar combined with N-fertilizer on rice production and GHG flux.Three field experimental treatments were designed:(1)no N-fertilizer application(N0);(2)270 kg N ha^(−1) application(N270);and(3)270 kg N-fertilizer ha^(−1) plus 25 t ha^(−1) biochar application(N270+C).We found that,compared with urea application alone,biochar applied with Urea-N fertilizer increased N use efficiency(NUE)and resulted in more stable growth of rice yield.In addition,biochar addition increased CH4 emissions by 0.5-37.5%on average during the two consecutive rice-growing seasons,and decreased N_(2)O-N loss by~16.7%.During the first growing season,biochar addition did not significantly affect the global warming potential(GWPt)or the greenhouse gas intensity(GHGI)of rice production(p>0.05).By contrast,during the second rice-growing season,biochar application significantly increased GWPt and GHGI by 28.9%and 18.8%,respectively,mainly because of increased CH_(4) emissions.Our results suggest that biochar amendment could improve grain yields and NUE,and increased soil GWPt,resulting in a higher potential environmental cost,but that biochar additions enhance exogenous carbon sequestration by the soil,which could offset the increases in GHG emissions.

Control of Hydrogen During ESR Process

Experimental and numerical studies were carried out for the behavior of hydrogen in a three-phase electro- slag furnace using double electrode series technique during electroslag remelting （ESR） process. The effect of water vapor content of furnace gas on the hydrogen content of ingots was studied through the ＂gas-slag-metal＂ osmosis ex- periment. Based on the experimental results, a mathematical model was set up for the behavior of hydrogen pick-up during ESR process. Then the flow of furnace gas during ESR process was studied through a commercial code FLU- ENT, and the relationship between the water vapor content of furnace gas and argon gas flux in practical production was derived. Finally, the desired reasonable argon gas flow for controlling the hydrogen content of ingots below 2 × 10-6 in practice was obtained.

Impacts of wetting-drying cycles on short-term carbon and nitrogen dynamics in Amynthas earthworm casts

Effects of earthworm casts on soil nutrient dynamics and their responses to changing moisture availability in subtropical ecosystems remain poorly understood.This study aimed to examine short-term carbon(C)and nitrogen(N)dynamics and their interactions with wetting-drying cycles in three different structural forms(i.e.,granular,globular,and heap-like)of Amynthas earthworm casts.The rates of C and N mineralization in the earthworm casts were examined under two different wetting-drying cycles(i.e.,2-d and 4-d wetting intervals)using a rainfall simulation experiment.After three simulated rainfall events,subsamples of the earthworm casts were further incubated for 4 d for the determination of CO2 and N2O fluxes.The results of this study indicated that the impacts of wetting-drying cycles on the short-term C and N dynamics were highly variable among the three cast forms,but wetting-drying cycles significantly reduced the cumulative CO2 and N2O fluxes by 62%-83%and 57%-85%,respectively,when compared to the control without being subjected to any rainfall events.The C mineralization rates in different cast forms were affected by the amount of organic substrates and N content in casts,which were associated with the food preference and selection of earthworms.Meanwhile,the cumulative N2O fluxes did not differ among the three cast forms.Repeated wetting and drying of casts not only enhanced aggregate stability by promoting bonds between the cast particles,but also inhibited microbial survival and growth during the prolonged drying period,which together hindered decomposition and denitrification.Our findings demonstrated that the interactions between the structural forms,aggregate dynamics,and C and N cycling in the earthworm casts were highly complex.