Journal of Integrative Agriculture ›› 2016, Vol. 15 ›› Issue (7): 1612-1624.DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(15)61268-0

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Soil nutrient loss due to tuber crop harvesting and its environmental impact in the North China Plain

  

  • 收稿日期:2015-10-05 出版日期:2016-07-06 发布日期:2016-07-06

Soil nutrient loss due to tuber crop harvesting and its environmental impact in the North China Plain

YU Han-qing1, LI Yong1, ZHOU Na1, Adrian Chappell2, LI Xiao-yu1, Jean Poesen3   

  1. 1 Agricultural Clean Watershed Research Group, Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing 100081, P.R.China
    2 CSIRO Land & Water National Research Flagship, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
    3 Division of Geography, KU Leuven, Heverlee 3001, Belgium
  • Received:2015-10-05 Online:2016-07-06 Published:2016-07-06
  • Contact: LI Yong, Tel/Fax: +86-10-82106016, E-mail: liyong@caas.cn
  • About author:YU Han-qing, Mobile: +86-15801321168, E-mail: yuhanqing@caas.cn;
  • Supported by:

    We thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31000944 and 41171231), the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna (18176 and 17908), the State Level Public Welfare Institute Basic Scientific Research Project of China (BSRF201407) and the National Key Technologies R&D Program of China during the 12th Five-year Plan period (2013BAD11B03) for financial supports.

Abstract:     Soil loss due to crop harvesting (SLCH) is a soil erosion process that significantly contributes to soil degradation in croplands. However, little is known about soil nutrient losses caused by SLCH and its environmental impacts. In the North China Plain area, we measured the losses of soil organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen as well as phosphorus due to SLCH and assessed their relationship with soil particle size composition, agronomic practices and soil moisture content. Our results show that the losses by harvesting potato of SOC, total nitrogen (TN), available nitrogen (AN), available phosphorus (AP) and total phosphorus (TP) were 1.7, 1.8, 1.8, 15.9 and 14.1 times compared by harvesting sweet potato, respectively. The variation of SOC, N and P loss by SLCH are mainly explained by the variation of plant density (PD) (17–50%), net mass of an individual tuber (Mcrop/p) (16–74%), soil clay content (34–70%) and water content (19–46%). Taking into account the current sewage treatment system and the ratio of the nutrients adhering to the tubers during transportation from the field (NTRP/SP), the loss of TN and TP by harvesting of potato and sweet potato in the North China Plain area amounts to 3% N and 20% P loads in the water bodies of this region. The fate of the exported N and P in the sewage treatment system ultimately controls the contribution of N and P to the pollution of lakes and rivers. Our results suggest that a large amount of SLCH-induced soil nutrient export during transportation from the field is a potential pollutant source for agricultural water for vast planting areas of tuber crops in China, and should not be overlooked.

Key words: soil nutrient losses ,  potato ,  sweet potato ,  crop harvesting ,  water pollution