Impacts of Fertilization Alternatives and Crop Straw Incorporation on N_2O Emissions from a Spring Maize Field in Northeastern China

Spring maize is one of the most popular crops planted in northeastern China. The cropping systems involving spring maize have been maintaining high production through intensive management practices. However, the high rates of nitrogen(N) fertilizers application could have introduced a great amount of nitrous oxide(N2O) into the atmosphere. It is crucial for sustaining the maize production systems to reduce N2O emissions meanwhile maintaining the optimum yields by adopting alternative farming management practices. The goal of this study was to evaluate effects of alternative fertilization and crop residue management practices on N2O emission as well as crop yield for a typical maize field in northeastern China. Field experiments were conducted during the 2010-2011 maize growing seasons(from early May to late September) in Liaoning Province, northeastern China. N2O fluxes were measured at the field plots with six different treatments including no N fertilizer use(CK), farmers' conventional N fertilizer application rate(FP), reduced N fertilizer rate(OPT), reduced N fertilizer rate combined with crop straw amendment(OPTS), slow-release N fertilizer(CRF), and reduced N fertilizer rate combined with nitrification inhibitor(OPT+DCD). The static chamber method combined with gas chromatography technique was employed to conduct the measurements of N2O fluxes. The field data showed that N2O emissions varied across the treatments. During the maize growing season in 2010, the total N2O emissions under the treatments of CK, FP, OPT, OPTS, and CRF were 0.63, 1.11, 1.03, 1.26, and 0.98 kg N ha-1, respectively. The seasonal cumulative N2O emissions were 0.54, 1.07, 0.96, 1.12, and 0.84 kg N ha-1, respectively, under CK, FP, OPT, OPTS, and OPT+DCD in 2011. In comparison with FP, CRF or OPT+DCD reduced the N2O emissions by 12 or 21%, respectively, while the crop yields remained unchanged. The results indicate that the reduction of N-fertilizer application rate in combination with the slow-release fertilizer type or nitrification inhibitor could effectively mitigate N2O emissions from the tested field. The incorporation of crop residue didn't show positive effect on mitigating N2O emissions from the tested cropping system. The field study can provide useful information for the on-going debate on alternative N fertilization strategies and crop straw management in China. However, further studies would be needed to explore the long-term impacts of the alternative management practices on a wide range of environmental services.

Estimates of N_2O Emissions and Mitigation Potential from a Spring Maize Field Based on DNDC Model

Agricultural production plays an important role in affecting atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O) concentrations. Field measurements were conducted in Dalian City, Liaoning Province in Northeast China from two consecutive years (2009 and 2010) to estimate N2O emissions from a spring maize field, a main cropping system across the Chinese agricultural regions. The observed flux data in conjunction with the local climate, soil and management information were utilized to test a process-based model, DeNitrification-DeComposition (DNDC), for its applicability for the cropping system. The validated DNDC was then used for exploring strategies to reduce N2O emissions from the target field. The results showed that the major N2O pulse emissions occurred with duration of about 3-5 d after fertilizer application in both years 2009 and 2010, which on average accounted for about 60% of the total N2O emissions each year. Rainfall and fertilizer application were the major factors influencing the N2O emissions from spring maize field. The average N2O fluxes from the CK (control plot, without fertilization) and FP (traditional chemical N fertilizer) treatments were 23.1 and 60.6μm-2 h-1 in 2009, respectively, and 21.5 and 64.3 μm-2 h-1 in 2010, respectively. The emission factors (EFs) of the applied N fertilizer (270 kg N ha-1) as N2O-N were 0.62% in 2009 and 0.77% in 2010, respectively. The comparison of modeled daily N2O emission fluxes against observations indicated that the DNDC model had a good performance even if without adjusting the internal parameters. The modeled results showed that management practices such as no-till, changing timing or rate of fertilizer application, increasing residue incorporation, and other technically applicable measures could effectively reduce N2O emissions from the tested fields. Our study indicated that avoiding application of N fertilizers at heavy rainfall events or splitting the fertilizer into more applications would be the most feasible approaches to reduce N2O emissions from spring maize production in Northeast China.

Suitability of the DNDC model to simulate yield production and nitrogen uptake for maize and soybean intercropping in the North China Plain

Intercropping is an important agronomic practice. However, assessment of intercropping systems using field experiments is often limited by time and cost. In this study, the suitability of using the DeNitrification DeComposition(DNDC) model to simulate intercropping of maize(Zea mays L.) and soybean(Glycine max L.) and its aftereffect on the succeeding wheat(Triticum aestivum L.) crop was tested in the North China Plain. First, the model was calibrated and corroborated to simulate crop yield and nitrogen(N) uptake based on a field experiment with a typical double cropping system. With a wheat crop in winter, the experiment included five treatments in summer: maize monoculture, soybean monoculture, intercropping of maize and soybean with no N topdressing to maize(N0), intercropping of maize and soybean with 75 kg N ha^(–1) topdressing to maize(N75), and intercropping of maize and soybean with 180 kg N ha^(–1) topdressing to maize(N180). All treatments had 45 kg N ha^(–1) as basal fertilizer. After calibration and corroboration, DNDC was used to simulate long-term(1955 to 2012) treatment effects on yield. Results showed that DNDC could stringently capture the yield and N uptake of the intercropping system under all N management scenarios, though it tended to underestimate wheat yield and N uptake under N0 and N75. Long-term simulation results showed that N75 led to the highest maize and soybean yields per unit planting area among all treatments, increasing maize yield by 59% and soybean yield by 24%, resulting in a land utilization rate 42% higher than monoculture. The results suggest a high potential to promote soybean production by intercropping soybean with maize in the North China Plain, which will help to meet the large national demand for soybean.

Establishment of soil moisture model based on hyperspectral data and growth parameters of winter wheat

Large area of soil moisture status diagnosis based on plant canopy spectral data remains one of the hot spots of agricultural irrigation.However,the existing soil water prediction model constructed by the spectral parameters without considering the plant growth process will inevitably increase the prediction errors.This study carried out research on the correlations among spectral parameters of the canopy of winter wheat,crop growth process,and soil water content,and finally constructed the soil water content prediction model with the growth days parameter.The results showed that the plant water content of winter wheat tended to decrease during the whole growth period.The plant water content had the best correlations with the soil water content of the 0-50 cm soil layer.At different growth stages,even if the soil water content was the same,the plant water content and characteristic spectral reflectance were also different.Therefore,the crop growing days parameter was added to the model established by the relationships between characteristic spectral parameters and soil water content to increase the prediction accuracy.It is found that the determination coefficient(R^(2))of the models built during the whole growth period was greatly increased,ranging from 0.54 to 0.60.Then,the model built by OSAVI(Optimized Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index)and Rg/Rr,two of the highest precision characteristic spectral parameters,were selected for model validation.The correlation between OSAVI and soil water content,Rg/Rr,and soil water content were still significant(p<0.05).The R^(2),MAE,and RMSE validation models were 0.53 and 0.58,3.19 and 2.97,4.76 and 4.41,respectively,which was accurate enough to be applied in a large-area field.Furthermore,the upper and lower irrigation limit of OSAVI and Rg/Rr were put forward.The research results could guide the agricultural production of winter wheat in northern China.

Ammonia volatilization from a Chinese cabbage field under different nitrogen treatments in the Taihu Lake Basin, China

Ammonia(NH_3) volatilization is a major pathway of nitrogen(N) loss from soil-crop systems.As vegetable cultivation is one of the most important agricultural land uses worldwide,a deeper understanding of NH_3 volatilization is necessary in vegetable production systems.We therefore conducted a 3-year(2010–2012) field experiment to characterize NH_3 volatilization and evaluate the effect of different N fertilizer treatments on this process during the growth period of Chinese cabbage.Ammonia volatilization rate,rainfall,soil water content,p H,and soil NH_4^+were measured during the growth period.The results showed that NH_3 volatilization was significantly and positively correlated to topsoil p H and NH4+concentration.Climate factors and fertilization method also significantly affected NH_3 volatilization.Specifically,organic fertilizer(OF) increased NH_3 volatilization by 11.77%–18.46%,compared to conventional fertilizer(CF,urea),while organic–inorganic compound fertilizer(OIF) reduced NH_3 volatilization by 8.82%–12.67% compared to CF.Furthermore,slow-release fertilizers had significantly positive effects on controlling NH_3 volatilization,with a 60.73%–68.80% reduction for sulfur-coated urea(SCU),a 71.85%–78.97% reduction for biological Carbon Power~&#174; urea(BCU),and a 77.66%–83.12% reduction for bulk-blend controlled-release fertilizer(BBCRF)relative to CF.This study provides much needed baseline information,which will help in fertilizer choice and management practices to reduce NH_3 volatilization and encourage the development of new strategies for vegetable planting.