Changes of Organic Matter, N, P and K Content of Soils in Red Soil Areas Under Long-Term Experiment

The content of organic matter （OM）, nitrogen （N）, phosphorus （P）, and potassium （K） in the three selected soils, including Calcaric Purpli-Orthic Primosols （purple sand-shale parent material）, Dystric Turbi-Anthric Primosols （quaternary red clay parent material） and Typic Udi-Sandic Primosols （granite parent material） were studied under a long-term experiment by using crop straw and inorganic fertilizers at the Hunan Red Soil Experiment Station of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. The results showed that the contents of OM, N, P and K in the three selected soils increased after 23 years application of crop straw and inorganic fertilizers, but the contents increased much less when crop straw or inorganic fertilizers was applied alone. The nutrient contents in the three soils developed from granite changed more remarkably than those in the soil derived from quaternary red clay and purple sand-shale. It was also found that the contents of OM, N, and P increased slightly in the treatments without applying fertilizers or returning the crop straw to the root bed. Combined application of inorganic fertilizers and crop straw could remarkably increase the contents of OM, alkalihydrolyzable N and available K, the positive correlation between application of organic fertilizers and increase of OM in soil did not always happened, it provided evidence for the relation between appropriate C/N ratio and accumulation of OM in soil. The increase of nutrient content was influenced by the soil properties. By comparing the contents of nutrient in 0-20 cm depth in the three different soils, it was concluded that the most increases of OM, alkali-hydrolyzable N, and available P were observed in Typic Udi-Sandic Primosols with the average increase by 3.03, 27.38, and 21.73 mg kg^-1, respectively. The available K increased in Dystric Turbi-Anthric Primosols with the average increase by 25.82 mg kg^-1, while it decreased in Calcaric Purpli-Orthic Primosols and Typic Udi-Sandic Primosols. It was concluded that the application of inorganic fertilizer and crop straw was important to improve the soil fertility for all of three selected soils. The straw return to the field had played a significant role for enhancement of the soil quality in the study areas. The application of inorganic fertilizer combined with the straw return to the fields could remarkably improve the soil fertility.

The Effects of Different Tillages on Crop Residue Sequestration, Soil Available Nutrients and Some Biochemical Properties in the Chinese Black Soil Region

Three-year field experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of different tillage operations after harvest on crop residues sequestration and their subsequent effects on soil available nitrogen （N）, phosphorus （P）, some soil biochemical properties, and three enzymatic activities during the following growing seasons in a soybean （Glycine max）-soybean- corn （Zea mays） rotation farming system in Northeast China. Two different managements were implemented after crop harvest every year, which were tillage （T） and no tillage （NT）. Results showed that crop residue masses on soil surface and in the 0-20 cm layer after soybean harvest were about 1 450 and 340 kg ha-1, respectively, in October 2006 and 2007. While, soybean residue mass in the 0-20 cm soil layer was about 340 kg ha-1 in NT and about 1 550 kg ha-1 in T before sowing in May 2007 and 2008. The adverse results were found after corn crop plantation, that corn residue mass was about 270 and 860 kg ha-1 on soil surface and in the 0-20 cm soil layer, respectively, after harvest in October 2008, while residue mass in the 0-20 cm soil layer was only 466 kg ha-1 in T but 863 kg ha-1 in NT before planting in May 2009. So T had effectively sequestered soybean residue into soil but not corn. Results also showed that T after harvest helped to improve soil available N, P, soil microbial biomass carbon （MBC）, and nitrogen （MBN） contents and soil enzymes activities （urease, acid phosphatase, and protease） during the 2007 and 2008 seasons, but the positive effects decreased during the 2009 season. T practice had significant positive effects on available N, P, MBC, and MBN contents, protease and urease activities, however, no obvious effects on acid phosphatase activity. In this study, T practice after soybean harvest was proved to be preferable to improve soil microbial and enzyme activities during the following seasons due to an efficient sequestration of soybean residues. However, NT could be considered preferential after corn crop harvest.

Roles of manganese oxides in degradation of phenol under UV-Vis irradiation:Adsorption,oxidation,and photocatalysis

Manganese oxides are known as one type of semiconductors,but their photocatalysis characteristics have not been deeply explored.In this study,photocatalytic degradation of phenol using several synthesized manganese oxides,i.e,acidic birnessite （BIR-H）,alkaline birnessite （BIR-OH）,cryptomelane （CRY） and todorokite （TOD）,were comparatively investigated.To elucidate phenol degradation mechanisms,X-ray diffraction （XRD）,ICP-AES （inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy）,TEM （transmission electronic microscope）,N 2 physisorption at 77 K and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy （UV-Vis DRS） were employed to characterize the structural,compositional,morphological,specific surface area and optical absorption properties of the manganese oxides.After 12 hr of UV-Vis irradiation,the total organic carbon （TOC） removal rate reached 62.1%,43.1%,25.4%,and 22.5% for cryptomelane,acidic birnessite,todorokite and alkaline birnessite,respectively.Compared to the reactions in the dark condition,UV- Vis exposure improved the TOC removal rates by 55.8%,31.9%,23.4% and 17.9%.This suggests a weak ability of manganese oxides to degrade phenol in the dark condition,while UV-Vis light irradiation could significantly enhance phenol degradation.The manganese minerals exhibited photocatalytic activities in the order of：CRY BIR-H TOD BIR-OH.There may be three possible mechanisms for photochemical degradation：（1） direct photolysis of phenol;（2） direct oxidation of phenol by manganese oxides;（3） photocatalytic oxidation of phenol by manganese oxides.Photocatalytic oxidation of phenol appeared to be the dominant mechanism.