Effects of nitrogen deposition on the carbon budget and water stress in Central Asia under climate change

Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen(N)plays a significant role in shaping the structure and functioning of various terrestrial ecosystems worldwide.However,the magnitude of N deposition on grassland ecosystems in Central Asia still remains highly uncertain.In this study,a multi-data approach was adopted to analyze the distribution and amplitude of N deposition effects in Central Asia from 1979 to 2014 using a process-based denitrification decomposition(DNDC)model.Results showed that total vegetation carbon(C)in Central Asia was 0.35(±0.09)Pg C/a and the averaged water stress index(WSI)was 0.20(±0.02)for the whole area.Increasing N deposition led to an increase in the vegetation C of 65.56(±83.03)Tg C and slightly decreased water stress in Central Asia.Findings of this study will expand both our understanding and predictive capacity of C characteristics under future increases in N deposition,and also serve as a valuable reference for decision-making regarding water resources management and climate change mitigation in arid and semi-arid areas globally.

Nitrogen Budget in Recirculating Aquaculture and Water Exchange Systems for Culturing Litopenaeus vannamei

In order to investigate the culture characteristics of two indoor intensive Litopenaeus vannamei farming modes, recirculating aquaculture system(RAS) and water exchange system(WES), this study was carried out to analyze the water quality and nitrogen budget including various forms of nitrogen, microorganism and chlorophyll-a. Nitrogen budget was calculated based on feed input, shrimp harvest, water quality and renewal rate, and collection of bottom mud. Input nitrogen retained in shrimp was 23.58% and 19.10% respectively for WES and RAS, and most of nitrogen waste retained in water and bottom mud. In addition, most of nitrogen in the water of WES was TAN(21.32%) and nitrite(15.30%), while in RAS was nitrate(25.97%), which means that more than 76% of ammonia and nitrite were removed. The effect of microalgae in RAS and WES was negligible. However, bacteria played a great role in the culture system considering the highest cultivable cultivable bacterial populations in RAS and WES were 1.03×10^(10) cfu mL^(-1) and 2.92×10~9 cfu mL^(-1), respectively. Meanwhile the proportion of bacteria in nitrogen budget was 29.61% and 24.61% in RAS and WES, respectively. RAS and WES could realize shrimp high stocking culture with water consuming rate of 1.25 m^3 per kg shrimp and 3.89 m^3 per kg shrimp, and power consuming rates of 3.60 kwh per kg shrimp and 2.51 kwh per kg shrimp, respectively. This study revealed the aquatic environment and nitrogen budget of intensive shrimp farming in detail, which provided the scientific basis for improving the industrial shrimp farming.

Nitrogen and Phosphorus Budget of a Polyculture System of Sea Cucumber(Apostichopus japonicus), Jellyfish(Rhopilema esculenta) and Shrimp(Fenneropenaeus chinensis)

The nitrogen(N) and phosphorus(P) budget and the ecological efficiency of a polyculture system of sea cucumber(Apostichopus japonicus), jellyfish(Rhopilema esculenta) and shrimp(Fenneropenaeus chinensis) were studied in a cofferdam, 120.2 ha in size. The nutrients were supplied by spring tide inflow. In total, 139600 kg N yr-1 and 9730 kg P yr-1 input to the system; while 118900 kg N yr-1 and 2840 kg P yr-1 outflowed from the system concurrently, thus the outflow was 85.7%(N) and 29.2%(P) of inflow. The production of N and P was 889.5 kg yr-1 and 49.28 kg yr-1(sea cucumber) and 204 kg yr-1 and 18.03 kg yr-1(jellyfish and shrimp), respectively. The utilization rate of N and P by polycultured animals was 7.8‰ and 6.9‰, respectively, 21.9% and 38% higher than that of monocultured sea cucumber. Our results indicated that the polyculture system was an efficient culture system of animals and a remediation system of coastal environment as well; it scavenged 14.3% and 70.8% of N and P, respectively. Such an ecological efficiency may be improved further by increasing either the stocking density or the size of sea cucumber or both.

COMPARATIVE STUDIES ON NITROGEN BUDGETS OF CLOSED SHRIMP POLYCULTURE SYSTEMS

April to October, 1997 comparative studies on the nitrogen budgets of closed shrimp polyculture systems showed that, in all the studied polyculture systems, nitrogen from feeds and fertilizers were the main input items, which comprised 70.7%-83.9% of the total input nitrogen, 3.2%-7.4% of which was provided by nitrogen fixation. It was in monoculture enclosures (Y 4, Y 11 and Y 12) that the percentage reached the maximum value. The output nitrogen in harvested products comprised 10.8%-24.6% of total input nitrogen, and the highest percentage, 24.6%, was found in shrimp fish tagelus polyculture systems. In shrimp monoculture and shrimp fish polyculture systems, they were 19.1% and 21.9%, respectively. The nitrogen utilization efficiency was different and varied from 12.2% to 20.1%. The highest, 20.1%, was found in shrimp fish tagelus polyculture systems, and the average of 20.0% was found in shrimp tagelus polyculture systems. The lowest, 12.2%, was found in shrimp monoculture systems. All the nitrogen utilization efficiencies in shrimp fish systems or shrimp scallop systems seemed to be higher than that of the monoculture system, but they showed little statistical difference. The main outputs of nitrogen were found in sediment mud, and comprised 48.2%-60.8% of the total input, the lowest percentage was found in shrimp fish tagelus polyculture systems, and the highest percentage in shrimp scallop systems. During the experiment, nitrogen lost through denitrification and ammonia volatilization comprised 1.9%-6.2%, averaged 2.8%, of the total input, and the loss through seepage comprised 5.9%-8.9% of the total. The estimated nitrogen attached to the enclosure wall comprised 3.7%-13.3% of the total, and was highest in shrimp monoculture systems. Compared with the classic shrimp farming industry, the closed shrimp polyculture systems may improve the nitrogen utilization efficiency, and hence reduce the environmental impacts on coastal waters. The nitrogen discharging rates for all the studied polyculture systems ranged from 3.0% to 6.0% of total input nitrogen.

Nitrogen budget in the Changjiang River drainage area

We established a budget model of nitrogen （N） inputs and outputs between watersheds and waterbodies to determine the sources of riverine N in the Changjiang （Yangtze） River drainage area. Nitrogen inputs in the budget included N from synthetic fertilizer, biological fixation by leguminous and other crops, wet/dry atmospheric deposition, excreta from humans and animals, and crop residues. The total N input was estimated to be 17.6 Tg, of which 20% or 3.5 Tg N was transported into waterbodies. Of the total N transported into waterbodies, the largest proportion was N from animal waste （26%）, followed by N from atmospheric wet/dry deposition （25%）, synthetic fertilizer N （17%）, N in sewage wastes （17%）, N in human waste from rural areas （6%） and industrial wastewater N （9%）. We studied the spatial patterns of N inputs and outputs by dividing the Changjiang River drainage area into four sub-basins, from upstream to downstream： the Tongtian River drainage area （TTD, the headwater drainage area, 138 000 l^n2, less disturbed by human activities）; the Jinsha River drainage area （JSD, 347 000 km2, less disturbed by human activities, approx. 3 500 km upstream of the Changjiang estuary）; the Pingshan-Yichang drainage area （PYD, 520 500 krn2, large-scale human disturbance, about 2 000 km upstream of the Changjiang estuary）; and the Yichang-Datong drainage area （YDD, 699 900 km^2, large-scale httman disturbance, approx. 620 km upstream of the Changjiang estuary）. The average N input into waterbodies was 2.3, 7.3, 24.1, and 28.2 kg N/ha in the TTD, JSD, PYD, and YDD sub-basins, respectively, suggesting an increase of N-components of more than 10 times from upstream to downstream areas.

Carbon and nitrogen budget in fish-polychaete integrated aquaculture system

Integrated multi-tropic aquaculture(IMTA)systems have been used in China for many years and have achieved significant economic,social,and ecological benefits.However,there is still a lack of benthic bioremediation species that can effectively utilize the aquaculture particulate organic waste in the system.Polychaete Perinereis aibuhitensis Grube is used as an environmental remediation species for large-scale aquaculture to reduce particulate organic waste,which is of great significance to environmental protection.To improve bio-elements utilization efficiency,P.aibuhitensis was applied for IMTA indoor fish(Hexagrammos otakii)farming.Results showed that in the system,production of 1 kg of the fish discharged 2141-2338 mg of carbon and 529-532 mg of nitrogen,while in the monoculture of the fish,the figures were 3033-3390 mg and 764-794 mg,or 24.84%-35.26%and 30.35%-33.32%less,respectively.This approach promoted IMTA technology that could utilize the particulate organic waste from intensive aquaculture and reduce the adverse environmental effects.

Nitrogen and phosphorus budgets of the Changjiang River estuary

Eutrophication has emerged as a key environmental problem in Chinese coastal waters, especially in the Changjiang (Yangtze) River estuary. In this area, large nutrient inputs result in frequent harmful algal blooms and serious hypoxia in bottom waters. Four cruises were made in the estuary in 2006 to assess the concentration and distribution of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and phosphorus (DIP). The concentration of DIN decreased gradually in a linear relationship with salinity from the river mouth to outer waters, while DIP was relatively more dispersed. A modified box budget method was used to estimate nutrient fluxes in the estuary and its adjacent waters. Water and nutrient budgets as well as primary production and denitrification rates were estimated from the box budget model. Estimated water residence time in the estuary was about 11 d. The turbid mixing zone released 33% of DIN and 49% of DIP, while in the adjacent outer sea 17.9 mmol DIN/m2·d and 0.36 mmol DIP/m2·d were fixed. Dissolved inorganic phosphorus was imported from the deep open sea waters, supporting primary production and population growth in this zone. Net ecosystem production (NEP) was calculated at 38.2 mmol/m2·d in the outer estuary and the estimated rate (N-fixation minus denitrification) was negative (1.92 mmol/m2·d), implying that a large amount of input nitrogen was taken up by algae and recycled through denitrification in bottom water and sediment.

The experimental studies on the carbon and nitrogen budgets of Pseudeuphausia sinica

The carbon and nitrogen budgets were estimated on the adult females, juveniles and post-furcilia larvae of Pseudeuphausia sinica fed on newly hatching nauplii of Artemia salina in the laboratory. It was found that the ingestion rate was linearly related to the food concentration, suggesting high feeding potential. The linear correlation could be established between the respirating rate (carbon consumption rate) and carbon ingestion rate, as well as carbon assimilation rate. The regression coefficients (i.e.specific dynamic action coefficients) were in the range from 9% to 16% (ingested C) or 10% to 17% (assimilated C) respectively, with lower in the post-furcilia larvae. There also existed a linear correlation equation between estimated total nitrogen excretion rate and the rates of nitrogen ingestion and assimilation separately, except for the juveniles. The defecation rates increased with the increase of the ingestion rate; as a result, assimilation efficiency was not related to the ingestion rate, ranging from 0.84 to 0.95. The results inducated that the nitrogen content in food particles was a key factor limiting the growth of P. sinica. The critical ingestion rate was 10 μgN·mg-1 body dry weight per day. Assimilated N was lost mostly by excretion, following allocated to somatic growth. The nitrogen loss by moult only accounted for a minor part. As for carbon budget, respiration and somatic growth also accounted for most of assimilation, but varied with ingestion rates. Moult loss was minor. Estimated reproductive growth (C&N) in the adult females accounted for somewhat higher percent of assimilation than the moult growth. The net growth efficiency (K2) increased with the increase of the ingestion rates, but decreased slightly for juvenile and post-furcilia larvae after the rates up to a certain value.

Increased dependence on nitrogen-fixation of a native legume in competition with an invasive plant

Suppression of roots and/or their symbiotic microorganisms,such as mycorrhizal fungi and rhizobia,is an effective way for alien plants to outcompete native plants.However,little is known about how invasive and native plants interact with the quantity and activity of nutrient-acquisition agents.Here a pot experiment was conducted with monoculture and mixed plantings of an invasive plant,Xanthium strumarium,and a common native legume,Glycine max.We measured traits related to root and nodule quantity and activity and mycorrhizal colonization.Compared to the monoculture,fine root quantity(biomass,surface area)and activity(root nitrogen(N)concentration,acid phosphatase activity)of G.max decreased in mixed plantings;nodule quantity(biomass)decreased by 45%,while nodule activity in Nfixing via rhizobium increased by 106%;mycorrhizal colonization was unaffected.Contribution of N fixation to leaf N content in G.max increased in the mixed plantings,and this increase was attributed to a decrease in the rhizosphere soil N of G.max in the mixed plantings.Increased root quantity and activity,along with a higher mycorrhizal association was observed in X.strumarium in the mixed compared to monoculture.Together,the invasive plant did not directly scavenge N from nodule-fixed N,but rather depleted the rhizosphere soil N of the legume,thereby stimulating the activity of N-fixation and increasing the dependence of the native legume on this N source.The quantity-activity framework holds promise for future studies on how native legumes respond to alien plant invasions.

Effect of Temperature on the Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus Nutrient Budgets of Steelhead Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) with Different Sizes

This study was performed to evaluate the effect of temperature on the carbon(C),nitrogen(N),and phosphorus(P)nu-trient budgets of adult steelhead trout(Oncorhynchus mykiss)with different body sizes.A complete two-factor experiment was con-ducted at four temperatures,i.e.,9(T9),13(T13),16(T1℃℃℃6),and 19(T19);and three body sizes,℃i.e.,0.65 kg±0.02 kg(S1),1.22 kg±0.06 kg(S2),and 2.05 kg±0.09 kg(S3).The following properties of steelhead trout were determined:C,N,and P nutrient budgets;feed intake rate;fecal production rate;oxygen consumption rate;ammonia excretion rate;phosphorus excretion rate;scope of the growth of C,N,and P;and absorption efficiency of C,N,and P.Results showed no significant interaction between temperature and body size in terms of the nutrient budgets of steelhead trout.However,temperature and body size played important separate roles in the nutrient budgets except for the absorption efficiency of nitrogen.The feed intake rate,fecal production rate,ammonia excretion rate,phosphorus excretion rate,and scope of the growth of C,N,and P were the highest in the T16 treatments.The absorption effi-ciency of C and P decreased as temperature increased.Nonlinear multiple regression results indicated that 15 was the approximate℃optimal temperature for the feeding and growth of steelhead trout.The feed intake rate,fecal production rate,oxygen consumption rate,ammonia excretion rate,phosphorus excretion rate,and scope of the growth of C,N,and P per unit of the body weight of fish decreased as body size increased.The absorption efficiency of C increased as body weight increased,and the absorption efficiencies of P in the S2 and S3 treatments were significantly higher than those in the S1 treatment.During the culture of steelhead trout,the daily ratio should be adjusted with changes in the temperature and body size of fish.Furthermore,managers should focus on the risk of hypoxia at high water temperatures.

ZmbZIP27 regulates nitrogen-mediated leaf angle by modulating lignin deposition in maize

In grain crops such as maize(Zea mays),leaf angle(LA)is a key agronomic trait affecting light interception and thus planting density and yield.Nitrogen(N)affects LA in plants,but we lack a good understanding of how N regulates LA.Here,we report that N deficiency enhanced lignin deposition in the ligular region of maize seedlings.In situ hybridization showed that the bZIP transcription factor gene ZmbZIP27 is mainly expressed in the phloem of maize vascular bundles.Under N-sufficient conditions,transgenic maize overexpressing ZmbZIP27 showed significantly smaller LA compared with wild type(WT).By contrast,zmbzip27_(ems)mutant showed larger LA under both N-deficient and N-sufficient conditions compared with WT.Overexpression of ZmbZIP27 enhanced lignin deposition in the ligular region of maize in the field.We further demonstrated that ZmbZIP27 could directly bind the promoters of the microRNA genes ZmMIR528a and ZmMIR528b and negatively regulate the expression levels of ZmmiR528.ZmmiR528 knockdown transgenic maize displayed erect architecture in the field by increasing lignin content in the ligular region of maize.Taken together,these results indicate that ZmbZIP27 regulates N-mediated LA size by regulating the expression of ZmmiR528 and modulating lignin deposition in maize.

Microfluidic-oriented synthesis of enriched iridium nanodots/carbon architecture for robust electrocatalytic nitrogen fixation

Electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction(NRR)is considered as a promising candidate to achieve ammonia synthesis because of clean electric energy,moderate reaction condition,safe operating process and harmless by-products.However,the chemical inertness of nitrogen and poor activated capacity on catalyst surface usually produce low ammonia yield and faradic efficiency.Herein,the microfluidic technology is proposed to efficiently fabricate enriched iridium nanodots/carbon architecture.Owing to in-situ co-precipitation reaction and microfluidic manipulation,the iridium nanodots/carbon nanomaterials possess small average size,uniform dispersion,high conductivity and abundant active sites,producing good proton activation and rapid electrons transmission and moderate adsorption/desorption capacity.As a result,the as-prepared iridium nanodots/carbon nanomaterials realize large ammonia yield of 28.73 μg h^(-1) cm^(-2) and faradic efficiency of 9.14%in KOH solution.Moreover,the high ammonia yield of 11.21 μg h^(-1) cm^(-2) and faradic efficiency of 24.30%are also achieved in H_(2)SO_(4) solution.The microfluidic method provides a reference for large-scale fabrication of nano-sized catalyst materials,which may accelerate the progress of electrocatalytic NRR in industrialization field.

Regulation of 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline and grain quality in early-season indica fragrant rice by nitrogen and silicon fertilization under different plantation methods

Fragrant rice has a high market value,and it is a popular rice type among consumers owing to its pleasant flavor.Plantation methods,nitrogen(N)fertilizers,and silicon(Si)fertilizers can affect the grain yield and fragrance of fragrant rice.However,the core commercial rice production attributes,namely the head rice yield(HRY)and 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline(2-AP)content of fragrant rice,under various nitrogen and silicon(N-Si)fertilization levels and different plantation methods remain unknown.The field experiment in this study was performed in the early seasons of 2018 and 2019 with two popular indica fragrant rice cultivars(Yuxiangyouzhan and Xiangyaxiangzhan).They were grown under six N-Si fertilization treatments(combinations of two levels of Si fertilizer,0 kg Si ha^(−1)(Si0)and 150 kg Si ha^(−1)(Si1),and three levels of N fertilizer,0 kg N ha^(−1)(N0),150 kg N ha^(−1)(N1),and 220 kg N ha^(−1)(N2))and three plantation methods(artificial transplanting(AT),mechanical transplanting(MT),and mechanical direct-seeding(MD)).The results showed that the N-Si fertilization treatments and all the plantation methods significantly affected the HRY and 2-AP content and related parameters of the two different fragrant rice cultivars.Compared with the Si0N0 treatment,the N-Si fertilization treatments resulted in higher HRY and 2-AP contents.The rates of brown rice,milled rice,head rice,and chalky rice of the fragrant rice also improved with the N-Si fertilization treatments.The N-Si fertilization treatments increased the activities of N metabolism enzymes and the accumulation of N and Si in various parts of the fragrant rice,and affected their antioxidant response parameters.The key parameters for the HRY and 2-AP content were assessed by redundancy analysis.Furthermore,the structural equation model revealed that the Si and N accumulation levels indirectly affected the HRY by affecting the N metabolism enzyme activity,N use efficiency,and grain quality of fragrant rice.Moreover,high N and Si accumulation directly promoted the 2-AP content or affected the antioxidant response parameters and indirectly regulated 2-AP synthesis.The interactions of the MT method with the N-Si fertilization treatments varied in the fragrant rice cultivars in terms of the HRY and 2-AP content,whereas the MD method was beneficial to the 2-AP content in both fragrant rice cultivars under the N-Si fertilization treatments.

Identification of the lysine and histidine transporter family in Camellia sinensis and the characterizations in nitrogen utilization

In plants,the lysine and histidine transporter(LHT)family represent a class of proteins that mediate the uptake,translocation,and utilization of amino acids.The tea plant(Camellia sinensis)is a perennial evergreen with a relatively high level of amino acids.However,systematic identification and molecular characterization of the LHT gene family has rarely been reported in tea plants.In this study,22 CsLHTs were identified from the‘Shuchazao’genome and classified into two groups.The modeled three-dimensional structure and the conserved domains presented a high similarity among the LHTs proteins.Moreover,it was predicted that a few genes were conserved through the analysis of the physiochemical characters,structures and cis-elements in promoters.The expression patterns in tea plants revealed that CsLHT7 was mainly expressed in the roots,and CsLHT4 and CsLHT11 exhibited relatively high expression in both the roots and leaves.Moreover,the expression of all three genes could be induced by organic nitrogen.Additionally,heterogeneous expression of CsLHT4,CsLHT7 and CsLHT11 in Arabidopsis thaliana decreased the aerial parts biomass compared with that in WT plants while significantly increased the rosette biomass only for CsLHT11transgenic plants versus WT plants.Overall,our results provide fundamental information about CsLHTs and potential genes in N utilization for further analysis in tea plants.

Composition Engineering Opens an Avenue Toward Efficient and Sustainable Nitrogen Fixation

In this work,we open an avenue toward rational design of potential efficient catalysts for sustainable ammonia synthesis through composition engineering strategy by exploiting the synergistic effects among the active sites as exemplified by diatomic metals anchored graphdiyne via the combination of hierarchical high-throughput screening,first-principles calculations,and molecular dynamics simulations.Totally 43 highly efficient catalysts feature ultralow onset potentials(|U_(onset)|≤0.40 V)with Rh-Hf and Rh-Ta showing negligible onset potentials of 0 and-0.04 V,respectively.Extremely high catalytic activities of Rh-Hf and Rh-Ta can be ascribed to the synergistic effects.When forming heteronuclears,the combinations of relatively weak(such as Rh)and relatively strong(such as Hf or Ta)components usually lead to the optimal strengths of adsorption Gibbs free energies of reaction intermediates.The origin can be ascribed to the mediate d-band centers of Rh-Hf and Rh-Ta,which lead to the optimal adsorption strengths of intermediates,thereby bringing the high catalytic activities.Our work provides a new and general strategy toward the architecture of highly efficient catalysts not only for electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction(eNRR)but also for other important reactions.We expect that our work will boost both experimental and theoretical efforts in this direction.

Nitrogen and Oxygen Isotope Balance in Tropospheric N_2O—An Improved Budget

In steady state the stable isotopic composition of nitrogenand oxygen in tropospheric N\-2O is balanced by isotopically light N\-2O emitted from soils and oceans and isotopically heavy N\-2O as a return flux from the stratosphere. However, no such balance was reached in calculations given by Kim and Craig (1993). Modifications have been made on their calculations based on the most recent reports on annual global emission of N\-2O. It is considered that the nitrogen and oxygen isotope budget in tropospheric N\-2O are approximately in balance if isotopic fractionation effects during the production of N\-2O in soils and furthermore this paper puts forward further evidence for validating the above results.

Strategies to achieve effective nitrogen activation

Ammonia serves as a crucial chemical raw material and hydrogen energy carrier.Aqueous electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction(NRR),powered by renewable energy,has attracted tremendous interest during the past few years.Although some achievements have been revealed in aqueous NRR,significant challenges have also been identified.The activity and selectivity are fundamentally limited by nitrogen activation and competitive hydrogen evolution.This review focuses on the hurdles of nitrogen activation and delves into complementary strategies,including materials design and system optimization(reactor,electrolyte,and mediator).Then,it introduces advanced interdisciplinary technologies that have recently emerged for nitrogen activation using high-energy physics such as plasma and triboelectrification.With a better understanding of the corresponding reaction mechanisms in the coming years,these technologies have the potential to be extended in further applications.This review provides further insight into the reaction mechanisms of selectivity and stability of different reaction systems.We then recommend a rigorous and detailed protocol for investigating NRR performance and also highlight several potential research directions in this exciting field,coupling with advanced interdisciplinary applications,in situ/operando characterizations,and theoretical calculations.

Nitrogen rhizodeposition from corn and soybean,and its contribution to the subsequent wheat crops

Nitrogen(N)is a key factor in the positive response of cereal crops that follow leguminous crops when compared to gramineous crops in rotations,with the nonrecyclable rhizosphere-derived N playing an important role.However,quantitative assessments of differences in the N derived from rhizodeposition(NdfR)between legumes and gramineous crops are lacking,and comparative studies on their contributions to the subsequent cereals are scarce.In this study,we conducted a meta-analysis of NdfR from leguminous and gramineous crops based on 34 observations published worldwide.In addition,pot experiments were conducted to study the differences in the NdfR amounts,distributions and subsequent effects of two major wheat(Triticum aestivum L.)-preceding crops,corn(Zea mays L.)and soybean(Glycine max L.),by the cotton wick-labelling method in the main wheat-producing areas of China.The meta-analysis results showed that the NdfR of legumes was significantly greater by 138.93%compared to gramineous crops.In our pot experiment,the NdfR values from corn and soybean were 502.32 and 944.12 mg/pot,respectively,and soybean was also significantly higher than corn,accounting for 76.91 and 84.15%of the total belowground nitrogen of the plants,respectively.Moreover,in different soil particle sizes,NdfR was mainly enriched in the large macro-aggregates(>2 mm),followed by the small macro-aggregates(2–0.25 mm).The amount and proportion of NdfR in the macro-aggregates(>0.25 mm)of soybean were 3.48 and 1.66 times higher than those of corn,respectively,indicating the high utilization potential of soybean NdfR.Regarding the N accumulation of subsequent wheat,the contribution of soybean NdfR to wheat was approximately 3 times that of corn,accounting for 8.37 and 4.04%of the total N uptake of wheat,respectively.In conclusion,soybean NdfR is superior to corn in terms of the quantity and distribution ratio of soil macro-aggregates.In future field production,legume NdfR should be included in the nitrogen pool that can be absorbed and utilized by subsequent crops,and the role and potential of leguminous plants as nitrogen source providers in crop rotation systems should be fully utilized.

An optimized strategy of nitrogen-split application based on the leaf positional differences in chlorophyll meter readings

Modern rice production faces the dual challenges of increasing grain yields while reducing inputs of chemical fertilizer.However,the disequilibrium between the nitrogen(N)supplement from the soil and the demand for N of plants is a serious obstacle to achieving these goals.Plant-based diagnosis can help farmers make better choices regarding the timing and amount of topdressing N fertilizer.Our objective was to evaluate a non-destructive assessment of rice N demands based on the relative SPAD value(RSPAD)due to leaf positional differences.In this study,two field experiments were conducted,including a field experiment of different N rates(Exp.I)and an experiment to evaluate the new strategy of nitrogen-split application based on RSPAD(Exp.II).The results showed that higher N inputs significantly increased grain yield in modern high yielding super rice,but at the expense of lower nitrogen use efficiency(NUE).The N nutrition index(NNI)can adequately differentiate situations of excessive,optimal,and insufficient N nutrition in rice,and the optimal N rate for modern high yielding rice is higher than conventional cultivars.The RSPAD is calculated as the SPAD value of the top fully expanded leaf vs.the value of the third leaf,which takes into account the non-uniform N distribution within a canopy.The RSPAD can be used as an indicator for higher yield and NUE,and guide better management of N fertilizer application.Furthermore,we developed a new strategy of nitrogen-split application based on RSPAD,in which the N rate was reduced by 18.7%,yield was increased by 1.7%,and the agronomic N use efficiency was increased by 27.8%,when compared with standard farmers'practices.This strategy of N fertilization shows great potential for ensuring high yielding and improving NUE at lower N inputs.

Tradeoffs of nitrogen investment between leaf resorption and photosynthesis across soil fertility in Quercus mongolica seedlings during the hardening period

The most important process before leaf senescence is nutrient resorption,which reduces nutrient loss and maximizes plant fitness during the subsequent growth period.However,plants must retain certain levels of nitrogen(N)in their leaves to maintain carbon assimilation during hardening.The objective of this study was to investigate the tradeoffs in N investment between leaf N resorption and N for photosynthesis in seedlings with increased soil fertility during the hardening period.A field experiment was conducted to determine if and how soil fertility treatments(17,34,or 68 mg N seedling−1)affected N resorption and allocation to the photosynthetic apparatus in Quercus mongolica leaves during the hardening period.Seedlings were sampled at T1(after terminal bud formation),T2(between terminal bud formation and end of the growing period),and T3(at the end of the growing period).Results showed that photosynthetic N content continued to rise in T2,while N resorption started from non-photosynthetic N.Leaf N allocation to the photosynthetic apparatus increased as soil fertility increased,delaying N resorption.Additionally,soil fertility significantly affected N partitioning among different photosynthetic components,maintaining or increasing photosynthetic traits during senescence.This study demonstrates a tradeoff in N investment between resorption and photosynthesis to maintain photosynthetic assimilation capacity during the hardening period,and that soil fertility impacts this balance.Q.mongolica leaves primarily resorbed N from the non-photosynthetic apparatus and invested it in the photosynthetic apparatus,whereas different photosynthetic N component allocations effectively improved this pattern.