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.

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.

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.