Effects of Carbon and Nitrogen Additions on Soil Microbial Biomass Carbon and Enzyme Activities Under Rice Straw Returning

The effects of different amounts of carbon and nitrogen sources on the soil microbial biomass carbon,dissolved organic carbon and related enzyme activities were studied by the simulation experiment of rice straw returning to the field,and the mechanism of the decomposition of rice straw returning to the field was discussed.Completely randomized experiment of the two factors of the three levels was designed,and a total of nine treatments of indoor soil incubation tests were conducted.Full amount of rice straw was applied to the soil in this simulation experiment and different amounts of brown sugar and urea were added in the three levels of 0(no carbon source and nitrogen source),1(low levels of carbon and nitrogen sources)and 2(high levels of carbon and nitrogen sources),respectively.The results showed that the addition of different amounts of carbon and nitrogen sources to the rice straw could increase the soil carbon content.Compared with T0N0,the microbial biomass carbon of T2N2 was increased significantly by 170.48%;the dissolved organic carbon content of T1N2 was significantly increased by 58.14%and the free humic acid carbon contents of T0N2,T1N1 and T2N0 were significantly increased by 56.16%and 45.55%and 47.80%,respectively;however,there were no significant differences among those of treatments at later incubation periods.The addition of different carbon and nitrogen sources could promote the soil enzyme activities.During the incubation period,all of the soil enzyme activities of adding sugar and urea were higher than those of T0N0 treatment.Therefore,the addition of different amounts of carbon and nitrogen sources to rice straw returning could improve soil microbial biomass carbon content,dissolved organic carbon and soil enzyme activities.

Effect of Long-Term Rice Straw Return on Soil Glomalin, Carbon and Nitrogen

A long-term experiment was conducted to investigate how long-term fertilization and rice straw incorporation into soil affect soil glomalin, C and N. The combined application of chemical fertilizer and straw resulted in a significant increase in both soil easily extractable glomalin (EEG) and total glomalin (TG) concentrations, as compared with application of only chemical fertilizer or no fertilizer application. The EEG and TG concentrations of the NPKS (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizer application + rice straw return) plot were 4.68% and 5.67% higher than those of the CK (unfertilized control) plot, and 9.87% and 6.23% higher than those of the NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizer applied annually) plot, respectively. Application of only chemical fertilizer did not cause a statistically significant change of soil glomalin compared with no fertilizer application. The changes of soil organic C (SOC) and total N (TN) contents demonstrated a similar trend to soil glomalin in these plots. The SOC and TN contents of NPKS plot were 15.01% and 9.18% higher than those of the CK plot, and 8.85% and 14.76% higher than those of the NPK plot, respectively. Rice straw return also enhanced the contents of microbial biomass C (MBC) and microbial biomass N (MBN) in the NPKS plot by 7.76% for MBC and 31.42% for MBN compared with the CK plot, and 12.66% for MBC and 15.07% for MBN compared with the NPK plots, respectively. Application of only chemical fertilizer, however, increased MBN concentration, but decreased MBC concentration in soil.

Methane emissions from rice fields under continuous straw return in the middle-lower reaches of the Yangtze River

A three-year experiment was conducted in the middle-lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China to study the influence of continuous wheat straw return during the rice season and continuous rice straw return in wheat on methane （CH 4 ） emissions from rice fields in which, the rice-wheat rotation system is the most dominant planting pattern. The field experiment was initiated in October 2009 and has continued since the wheat-growing season of that year. The analyses for the present study were conducted in the second （2011） and third （2012） rice growing seasons. Four treatments, namely, the continuous return of wheat straw and rice straw in every season （WR）, of rice straw but no wheat straw return （R）, of wheat straw but no rice straw return （W） and a control with no straw return （CK）, were laid out in a randomized split-plot design. The total seasonal CH 4 emissions ranged from 107.4 to 491.7 kg/ha （2011） and 160.3 to 909.6 kg/ha （2012）. The increase in CH 4 emissions for treatments WR and W were 289% and 230% in the second year and 185% and 225% in the third year, respectively, in relation to CK. We observed less methane emissions in the treatment R than in CK by 14%-43%, but not statistically significant. Treatment R could increase rice productivity while no more CH 4 emission occurs. The difference in the total CH 4 emissions mainly related to a difference in the methane flux rate during the first 30-35 days after transplant in the rice growing season, which was caused by the amount of dissolved oxygen in paddy water and the amount of reducible soil materials.