Scientia Agricultura Sinica ›› 2021, Vol. 54 ›› Issue (2): 334-344.doi: 10.3864/j.issn.0578-1752.2021.02.009

• SOIL & FERTILIZER·WATER-SAVING IRRIGATION·AGROECOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Long-Term Conservation Tillage Enhanced Organic Carbon and Nitrogen Contents of Particulate Organic Matter in Soil Aggregates

LI Jing1,2(),WU HuiJun2(),WU XuePing2(),WANG BiSheng3,YAO YuQing4,LÜ JunJie4   

  1. 1School of Water Resources and Environment, Hebei GEO University/Hebei Province Collaborative Innovation Center for Sustainable Utilization of Water Resources and Optimization of Industrial Structure, Shijiazhuang 050031
    2Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081
    3College of Agronomy, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, Shandong
    4Luoyang Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Luoyang 471022, Henan
  • Received:2020-04-27 Accepted:2020-07-21 Online:2021-01-16 Published:2021-02-03
  • Contact: HuiJun WU,XuePing WU E-mail:lijing315666@163.com;wuhuijun@caas.cn;wuxueping@caas.cn

Abstract:

【Objective】 Tillage management has essential effects on soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN). Based on a combined soil aggregate size, particle density and size fractionation method, the study aimed at revealing effects of different tillage treatments on SOC and TN of physical fractions within different sizes of aggregates. This study provided theoretical basis for understanding mechanisms soil carbon and nitrogen sequestration and selecting optimized tillage management for loess hilly region of China. 【Method】 The long-term tillage experiment, started in 1999, was used for the study. The tillage treatments included: reduced tillage without mulch (RT), no-tillage (NT), sub-soiling with mulch (SM), and conventional tillage (CT). The soil samples from the 0-10 cm layer were collected to obtain physical fractions, including free light fraction (LF), coarse and fine particulate organic matter (cPOM and fPOM) and mineral associated organic matter (m-SOM) within four dry-sieving aggregate sizes (>2 mm, 1-2 mm, 0.25-1 mm and <0.25 mm), by applying a combined soil aggregate size, and particle density and size fractionation procedure.【Result】 (1) 15 years application of conservation tillage (including NT and SM) significantly increased SOC and TN contents in 0-10 cm layer. Compared to CT, NT and SM increased SOC content by 22.9% and 21.8%, and increased TN content by 35.2% and 42.3%, respectively. However, RT had no significant effects on SOC and TN contents. (2) Different tillage practices changed the mass distribution, SOC and TN contents of aggregates. Compared to CT, NT and SM improved the mass percentage of 1-2 mm and 0.25-1 mm size aggregates, relatively, increased the mass percentage of >2 mm and<0.25 mm aggregates. Moreover, conservation tillage enhanced SOC and TN contents across four sizes aggregates. Compared to CT, NT and SM averagely increased SOC content in aggregates by 8.5% and 9.5% and increased TN contents by 12.2% and 24.1%, respectively. The fPOM and m-SOM stored largest parts of aggregate SOC and TN, constituting 27.3%-45.1% and 25.0%-52.6% of aggregate SOC, 23.5%-34.7% and 42.2%-64.3% of aggregate TN. Different physical fractions had different reflects to tillage managements. The cPOM and fPOM were the most sensitive fractions. Compared to CT, NT and SM led to higher contents of SOC and TN accumulated in cPOM and fPOM in all aggregates, especially cPOM in >2 mm aggregates and fPOM in <2 mm aggregates.【Conclusion】The long-term conservation tillage (included no-tillage and sub-soiling and mulch management) promoted SOC and TN sequestration in aggregates by increasing the storage of physical protected particulate organic matter in aggregates. Thus, the conservation tillage was a sustainable soil carbon and nitrogen enhancement management for dryland soils for the loess hilly region of China.

Key words: conservation tillage, long-term tillage, soil aggregate, organic carbon, nitrogen, density fraction

Table 1

Soil physical and chemical properties before the testing"

pH 有机碳
SOC
(g·kg-1
全氮
TN
(g·kg-1
全磷
Total P
(g·kg-1
全钾
Total K
(g·kg-1
有效氮
Available N
(mg·kg-1
有效磷
Available P
(mg·kg-1
速效钾
Available K
(mg·kg-1
CaCO3
(g·kg-1
颗粒组成 Partical size (%)
黏粒
Clay
粉粒
Silt
砂粒
Sand
7.7 6.67 1.1 0.69 18 82.5 6.1 139.5 113 14.3 74.8 10.9

Fig. 1

Schematic of the applied size and density fractionation procedure"

Table 2

The contents and annual sequestration rate of SOC and TN in 0-10 cm layer under different tillage treatments"

处理
Treatment
SOC含量
SOC content
(g·kg-1)
SOC储量
SOC stock
(t C·hm-2)
年固碳速率
Annual C sequestration rate (t C·hm-2·a-1)
TN含量
TN content
(g·kg-1)
TN储量
TN stock
(t N·hm-2)
年固氮速率
Annual N sequestration rate (t N·hm-2·a-1)
RT 7.35 b 8.46 b -0.078 b 0.67 b 0.77 b -0.057 b
NT 9.20 a 10.86 a 0.094 a 0.96 a 1.13 a -0.032 a
SM 9.13 a 10.40 a 0.061 a 1.01 a 1.15 a -0.030 a
CT 7.49 b 8.92 b -0.045 b 0.71 b 0.84 b -0.052 b

Table 3

The mass percentage of aggregates under different tillage treatments"

处理
Treatment
团聚体相对含量 Mass percentage of aggregates(%)
>2 mm 1-2 mm 0.25-1 mm <0.25 mm
RT 35.53 a 11.11 c 24.71 c 28.65 b
NT 26.19 c 14.87 a 31.46 a 27.47 b
SM 27.53 bc 12.95 b 31.48 a 28.04 b
CT 29.68 b 11.88 c 26.95 b 31.49 a

Fig. 2

SOC (a) and TN contents (b) of aggregates under different tillage treatments Lowercase letters denote differences between tillage treatments in the same size class of aggregate, likewise uppercase letters denote significant differences among aggregate size classes in a single tillage treatment and, different letters mean significance at 5% level. The same as below"

Fig. 3

SOC contents and relative contribution of density fractions with aggregates under different tillage treatments"

Fig. 4

TN contents and relative contribution of density fractions with aggregates under different tillage treatments"

Fig. 5

C/N ratios in density fractions within aggregates under different tillage treatments"

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