Effects of long-term green manure application on the content and structure of dissolved organic matter in red paddy soil

Dissolved organic matter(DOM) plays important roles in soil biogeochemistry activity and nutrients transportation in soils, but studies regarding the long-term effects of green manures on the content and structure of DOM in red paddy soil have not been reported yet. A long-term green manure experiment established in 1982 was utilized to test the DOM contents in different treatments, and the spectral characteristics of DOM were investigated by using ultraviolet-visible(UV-Vis) spectrometry and Fourier transform infrared(FTIR) spectrometry. The experiment included four cropping systems: ricerice-milk vetch(RRV), rice-rice-rape(RRP), rice-rice-ryegrass(RRG) and rice-rice-winter fallow(RRF), among them, milk vetch, rape, and ryegrass are popular winter green manure species in southern China. The results showed that the content of dissolved organic carbon(DOC), which is widely used to estimate the concentration of DOM, was significantly promoted after the incorporation of green manures compared with the other sampling stages. The contents of aromatic groups and the degree of humification of DOM increased in RRV and RRP, suggesting more complex compositions of the soil DOM after long-term application of milk vetch and rape. The contents of phenol, alcohol and carboxylic acid group at the mature stage of early rice were significantly higher than those at the stage of after green manures turned over, especially for the RRV treatment. The absorption ratio of FTIR indicated that winter plantation of rape increased the aromatic-C/aliphatic-C ratio, and ryegrass increased the aromatic-C/carboxyl-C ratio. In conclusion, long-term planting of milk vetch and rape as green manures increased the degree of aromaticity, humification and average molecular weight of DOM, and made the DOM more stable in red paddy soil.

Effects of long-term application of different green manures on ferric iron reduction in a red paddy soil in Southern China

Dissimilatory Fe（Ⅲ） reduction is an important process in the geochemical cycle of iron in anoxic environment. As the main products of dissimilatory iron reduction, the Fe（Ⅱ） species accumulation could indicate the reduction ability. The effects of different green manures on Fe（Ⅲ） reduction in paddy soil were explored based on a 31-year rice-rice-winter green manure cropping experiment. Four treatments were involved, i.e., rice-rice-milk vetch （RRV）, rice-rice-rape （RRP）, rice-rice-ryegrass （RRG） and rice-rice-winter fallow （RRF）. Soils were sampled at flowering stage of milk vetch and rape （S1）, before transplantation （S2）, at tillering （S3）, jointing （S4）, and mature （S5） stages of the early rice, and after the harvest of the late rice （S6）. The contents of TFeHa （HCI-extractable total Fe）, Fe（Ⅱ）HCI （HCI-extractable Fe（Ⅱ） species） and Fe（Ⅲ）HCI （HCI- extractable Fe（Ⅲ） species） were measured. The correlations among those Fe species with selected soil environmental factors and the dynamic characteristics of Fe（Ⅱ）HCI accumulation were investigated. The results showed that TFeHc~ in RRF was significantly higher than those in the green manure treatments at most of the sampling stages. Fe（II）Ha increased rapidly after the incorporation of green manures in all treatments and kept rising with the growth of early rice. Fe（Ⅱ）Ha in RRG was quite different from those in other treatments, i.e., it reached the highest at the S2 stage, then increased slowly and became the lowest one at the S4 and S5 stages. Fe（Ⅲ）Ha showed oppositely, and Fe（Ⅱ）HCI/Fe（Ⅲ）HCI performed similarly to Fe（Ⅱ）HCI The maximum accumulation potential of Fe（Ⅱ）HCI was significantly higher in RRF, while the highest maximum reaction rate of Fe（Ⅱ）Ha accumulation appeared in RRG. Significant correlations were found between the indexes of Fe（Ⅱ）HCI accumulation and soil pH, oxidation-reduction potential （Eh） and total organic acids, respectively. In together, we found that long-term application of green manures decreased the TFeHa in red paddy soils, but promoted the ability of Fe（lll） reduction, especially the ryegrass; Fe（Ⅱ）Ha increased along with the growth of rice and was affected by soil conditions and environmental factors, especially the water and redox ability.

Effects of Long-Term Organic Amendments on Soil Organic Carbon in a Paddy Field: A Case Study on Red Soil

Soil organic carbon （SOC） is one of the main carbon reservoirs in the terrestrial ecosystem. It is important to study SOC dynamics and effects of organic carbon amendments in paddy fields because of their vest expansion in south China. A study was carried out to evaluate the relationship between the SOC content and organic carbon input under various organic amendments at a long-term fertilization experiment that was established on a red soil under a double rice cropping system in 1981. The treatments included non-fertilization （CK）, nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium fertilization in early rice only （NPK）, green manure （Astragalus sinicus L.） in early rice only （OM1）, high rate of green manure in early rice only （OM2）, combined green manure in early rice and farmyard manure in late rice （OM3）, combined green manure in early rice, farmyard manure in late rice and rice straw mulching in winter （OM4）, combined green manure in early rice and rice straw mulching in winter （OMS）. Our data showed that the SOC content was the highest under OM3 and OM4, followed by OM1, OM2 and OM5, then NPK fertilization, and the lowest under non-fertilization. However, our analyses in SOC stock indicated a significant difference between OM3 （33.9 t ha^-1） and OM4 （31.8 t ha^-1）, but no difference between NPK fertilization （27 t ha^-1） and nonfertilization （28.1 t ha^-1）. There was a significant linear increase in SOC over time for all treatments, and the slop of linear equation was greater in organic manure treatments （0.276-0.344 g kg-1 yr^-1） than in chemical fertilizer （0.216 g kg^-1 yr^-1） and no fertilizer （0.127 g kg^-1 yr^-1）.

Effects of Long-term Located Fertilization on the Physico-chemical Property of Soil Humus

A systematic study concerning the effects of a long-term stationary fertilization on content and property of soil humus in fluvo-aquic soil sampled from Malan Farm, Xinji City, Hebei, and arid red soil and paddy red soil sampled from the Institute of Red Soil, Jinxian County, Jiangxi was conducted. The results showed that long-term fertilization had effects not only on the content and composition of soil humus, but also on the physico-chemical property of humus. With applying organic manure or combined application of organic manure and chemical fertilizer, E4 and E6 values of humic acid decreased in fluvo-aquic soil and arid red soil, but increased in paddy red soil. In paddy red soil, E4 and E6 values of humic acid increased also with a single application of chemical fertilizer, but E4 and E6 values had less change of humic acid in fluvo-aquic soil and arid red soil. The effects on the visible spectroscopic property of f ulvic acid were different from that of humic acid. Long-term application of organic manure or combined application of organic manure and chemical fertilizer could increase E4 and E6 values of f ulvic acid in three types of soil. Single application of chemical fertilizer had less effect on the E4 and E6. Long-term fertilization could also influence the ultraviolet spectroscopic property of humus. With a single application of organic manure or combined application of organic manure and chemical fertilizer, the ultraviolet absorbance of humic acid and f ulvic acid increased in the three types of soil. But this effect was obvious only in short wave length, and the effect could decrease if the wave length increased. With a single application of chemical fertilizer the ultraviolet absorbance of fulvic acid could increase, but it of humic acid increased only in fluvo-aquic soil. Long-term application of organic manure or combined application of organic manure and chemical fertilizer could increase the content of total acidic groups, carboxy groups and phenolic hydroxy groups of humic acid and fuvic acid in the three types of soil. Single application of chemical fertilizer had less effect on the content of total acidic groups, carboxy groups and phenolic hydroxy groups of humic acid and fuvic acid in the three types of soil.

Influence of soil type and genotype on Cd bioavailability and uptake by rice and implications for food safety

Cadmium （Cd） entering the human body via the food chain is of increasing concern. This study investigates the effects of soil type and genotype on variations in the Cd concentrations of different organs of nine rice plants grown on two types of soils with two Cd levels. Cd concentrations in nine rice cultivars varied significantly with genotype and soil type （P 〈 0.01）. The Cd concentration was higher in red paddy soil （RP） than in yellow clayey paddy soil （YP）. The average Cd concentrations of different organs in three rice types were indica 〉 hybrid 〉 japonica for the Cd treatments and controls. The polished grain concentration in YP and RP soils had a range of 0.055--0.23 mg/kg and 0.13-0.36 mg/kg in the Cd treatment, respectively. Two rice cultivars in YP soil and five rice cultivars in RP soil exceeded the concentration limits in the Chinese Food Hygiene Standard （0.2 mg/kg）. The Cd concentrations in roots, stems, and leaves were all significantly and positively correlated to that in polished grain in a single test. The Cd concentrations in polished grain were positively and significantly （P 〈 0.01） correlated with the calculated transfer factors of stem to grain and leaf to grain Cd transfer. The results indicated that the variations of Cd concentration in grain were related to Cd uptake and the remobilization of Cd from stem and leaf to grain. Also, the cultivars with a strong tendency for Cd-accumulation should be avoided in paddy soil with low soil pH and low organic matter content to reduce the risks to human health from high Cd levels in rice.