Please wait a minute...
Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2014, Vol. 13 Issue (3): 517-524    DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(13)60707-8
Section 1: Biochar Characters and Impacts Advanced Online Publication | Current Issue | Archive | Adv Search |
Soil Organic Carbon, Black Carbon, and Enzyme Activity Under Long- Term Fertilization
 SHAO Xing-hua , ZHENG Jian-wei
Department of Life Science, Shangrao Normal University, Jiangxi 334001, P.R.China
Download:  PDF in ScienceDirect  
Export:  BibTeX | EndNote (RIS)      
摘要  The present study aims to understand the effects of long-term fertilization on soil organic carbon (SOC), black carbon (BC), enzyme activity, and the relationships among these parameters. Paddy field was continuously fertilized over 30 yr with nine different fertilizer treatments including N, P, K, NP, NK, NPK, 2NPK (two-fold NPK), NPK+manure (NPKM), and CK (no fertilization), N, 90 kg urea-N ha-1 yr-1; P, 45 kg triple superphosphate-P2O5 ha-1 yr-1; K, 75 kg potassium chloride-K2O ha-1 yr-1; and pig manure, 22 500 kg ha-1 yr-1. Soil samples were collected and determined for SOC, BC content, and enzyme activity. The results showed that the SOC in the NPKM treatment was significantly higher than those in the K, P, and CK treatments. The lowest SOC content was found in the CK treatment. SOC content was similar in the N, NP, NK, NPK, 2NPK, and NPKM treatments. There was no significant difference in BC content among different treatments. The BC-to-SOC ratios (BC/SOC) ranged from 0.50 to 0.63, suggesting that BC might originate from the same source. Regarding enzyme activity, NPK treatment had higher urease activity than NPKM treatment. The urease activity of NPKM treatment was significantly higher than that of 2NPK, NP, N, P, K, CK, and NPKM treatment which produced higher activities of acid phosphatase, catalase, and invertase than all other treatments. Our results indicated that long-term fertilization did not significantly affect BC content. Concurrent application of manure and mineral fertilizers increased SOC content and significantly enhanced soil enzyme activities. Correlation analysis showed that catalase activity was significantly associated with invertase activity, but SOC, BC, and enzyme activity levels were not significantly correlated with one another. No significant correlations were observed between BC and soil enzymes. It is unknown whether soil enzymes play a role in the decomposition of BC.

Abstract  The present study aims to understand the effects of long-term fertilization on soil organic carbon (SOC), black carbon (BC), enzyme activity, and the relationships among these parameters. Paddy field was continuously fertilized over 30 yr with nine different fertilizer treatments including N, P, K, NP, NK, NPK, 2NPK (two-fold NPK), NPK+manure (NPKM), and CK (no fertilization), N, 90 kg urea-N ha-1 yr-1; P, 45 kg triple superphosphate-P2O5 ha-1 yr-1; K, 75 kg potassium chloride-K2O ha-1 yr-1; and pig manure, 22 500 kg ha-1 yr-1. Soil samples were collected and determined for SOC, BC content, and enzyme activity. The results showed that the SOC in the NPKM treatment was significantly higher than those in the K, P, and CK treatments. The lowest SOC content was found in the CK treatment. SOC content was similar in the N, NP, NK, NPK, 2NPK, and NPKM treatments. There was no significant difference in BC content among different treatments. The BC-to-SOC ratios (BC/SOC) ranged from 0.50 to 0.63, suggesting that BC might originate from the same source. Regarding enzyme activity, NPK treatment had higher urease activity than NPKM treatment. The urease activity of NPKM treatment was significantly higher than that of 2NPK, NP, N, P, K, CK, and NPKM treatment which produced higher activities of acid phosphatase, catalase, and invertase than all other treatments. Our results indicated that long-term fertilization did not significantly affect BC content. Concurrent application of manure and mineral fertilizers increased SOC content and significantly enhanced soil enzyme activities. Correlation analysis showed that catalase activity was significantly associated with invertase activity, but SOC, BC, and enzyme activity levels were not significantly correlated with one another. No significant correlations were observed between BC and soil enzymes. It is unknown whether soil enzymes play a role in the decomposition of BC.
Keywords:  organic carbon       black carbon       enzyme activity       fertilization  
Received: 09 October 2013   Accepted:
Fund: 

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41261074) and the Foundation of Educational Department of Jiangxi Province, China (GJJ12605).

Corresponding Authors:  SHAO Xing-hua, Mobile: 13361731892, E-mail: xinghuashao@126.com   
About author:  SHAO Xing-hua, Mobile: 13361731892, E-mail: xinghuashao@126.com

Cite this article: 

SHAO Xing-hua , ZHENG Jian-wei. 2014. Soil Organic Carbon, Black Carbon, and Enzyme Activity Under Long- Term Fertilization. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 13(3): 517-524.

Acosta-Martínez V, Lascano R, Calderón F, Booker J D, Zobeck T M, Upchurch R. 2011. Dryland cropping systems influence the microbial biomass and enzyme activities in a semiarid sandy soil. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 47, 655-667

 Amador J A, Glucksman A M, Lyons J B, Gorres J H. 1997. Spatial distribution of soil phosphatase activity within a riparian forest. Soil Science, 162, 808-825

 Bremner J M, Mulvaney R L. 1978. Urease activity in soils. In: Burns R G, ed., Soil Enzymes. Academic Press, New York. pp. 149-196

 Cheng C H, Lehmann J, Thies J E, Burton S D, Engelhard M K. 2006. Oxidation of black carbon by biotic and abiotic processes. Organic Geochemistry, 37, 1477-1488

 Clarholm M. 1993. Microbial biomass P, labile P, and acid phosphatase activity in the humus layer of a spruce forest, after repeated additions of fertilizers. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 16, 287-292

 Dick R P, Rasmussen P E, Kerle E A. 1988. Influence of long-term residue management on soil enzyme activities in relation to soil chemical properties of a wheat-fallow system. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 6, 159-164

 Ekschmitt K, Kandeler E, Poll C, Brune A, Buscot F, Friedrich M, Gleixner G, Hartmann A, Kastner M, Marhan S, et al. 2008. Soil-carbon preservation through habitat constraints and biological limitations on decomposer activity. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, 171, 27-35

 Goldberg E D. 1985. Black Carbon in the Environment: Properties and Distribution. John Wiley and Sons, New York. pp. 125-231

 Guan S Y. 1986. Soil Enzyme and Study Method. Agricultural Press, Beijing. pp. 263-346 (in Chinese)

Han Y M, Cao J J. 2005. Black carbon in the environments and its global biogeochemical cycle. Marine Geology & Quaternary Geology, 25, 125-132

 He Y, Zhang G L. 2006. Concentration and sources of organic carbon and black carbon of urban soils in Nanjing. Acta Pedologica Sinica, 43, 177-182. (in Chinese)

Huang J M, Wang X X, Wang Y, Zhang M K. 2012. Contents of black carbon in some surface dusts from Zhejiang Province. Journal of Zhejiang University (Agriculture & Life Science), 38, 91-96. (in Chinese)

Joseph S D, Camps-Arbestain M, Lin Y, Chia C H, Hook J, Zwieten L V, Kimber S A C, Singh B P, Lehmann J, Foidl N. 2010. An investigation into the reactions of biochar in soil. Australian Journal of Soil Research, 48, 501-515

 Kuhlbusch T A J. 1998. Black carbon in soil, sediments, and ice cores. In: Meyers R A, ed., The Encyclopaedia of Environmental Analysis and Remediation. Wiley, New York.

Kuzyakov Y, Subbotina I, Chen H Q, Bogomolova I, Xu X L. 2009. Black carbon decomposition and incorporation into soil microbial biomass estimated by 14C labeling, Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 41, 210-219

 Lal R. 2004. Soil carbon sequestration impacts on global climate change and food security. Science, 304, 1623- 1627.

Lal R. 2006. Enhancing crop yields in the developing countries through restoration of the soil organic carbon pool in agricultural lands. Land Degradation & Development, 17, 197-209

 Lal R. 2008. Carbon sequestration. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (B), 363, 815-830

 Leff B, Ramankutty N, Foley J A. 2004. Geographic distribution of major crops across the world. Global Biogeochem Cycles, 18, 1-27

 Li X A, Tong C L, Jiang P, Wu J S, Wang L G. 2006. Effects of long-term fertilization on soil organic matter and total nitrogen in paddy soil. Soils, 38, 298-303. (in Chinese)

Li Z P, Zhang T L, Chen B Y. Yin R L, Shi Y Q. 2003. Soil organic matter dynamics in a cultivaion chronosequence of paddy fields in subtropical China. Acta Pedologica Sinica, 40, 344-352. (in Chinese)

Liang B Q, Lehmann J, Solomon D, Sohi S, Thies J E, Skjemstad J O, Luizão F J, Engelhard M H, Neves E G, Wirick S. 2008. Stability of biomass-derived black carbon in soils. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 72, 6069-6078

 Liu J, Xie J M, Chu Y F, Sun C, Chen C X, Wang Q. 2008. Combined effect of cypermethrin and copper on catalase activity in soil. Journal of Soils Sediments, 8, 327-332

 Liu Z Y, Zhang M K. 2010. Contents of black carbon in some anthrosols from Zhejiang Province, Journal of Zhejiang University (Agriculture & Life Science), 36, 542-546. (in Chinese)

Lu R K. 1999. Analytical Methods of Soil and Agricultural Chemistry. China Agricultural Science Technology Press, Beijing. pp. 107-108. (in Chinese)

McLauchlan K. 2006. The nature and longevity of agricultural impacts on soil carbon and nutrients: A review. Ecosystems, 9, 1364-1382

 Muri G, Cermelj B, Faganeli J, Brancelj A. 2002. Black carbon in Slovenian alpine lacustrine sediments. Chemosphere, 46, 1225-1234

 Olander L P, Vitousek P M. 2000. Regulation of soil phosphatase and chitinase activity by N and P availability. Biogeochemistry, 49, 175-190

 Ouédraogo E, Mando A, Stroosnijder L. 2006. Effect of tillage, organic resources and nitrogen fertilizer on soil C dynamics and crop nitrogen uptake in semi-arid West Africa. Soil and Tillage Research, 91, 57-67

 Regmi A P, Ladha J K, Pathak H, Pasuquin E, Bueno C, Dawe D, Hobbs P R, Joshy D, Maskey S L, Pandey S P. 2002. Yield and soil fertility trends in a 20-year rice- rice-wheat experiment in Nepal. Soil Science Society of American Journal, 66, 857-867

 Ren T Z, Stefano G. 2000. Soil bioindicators in sustainable agriculture. Scientia Agricultura Sinica, 33, 68-75

 (in Chinese)

SAS. 2002. SAS Language Version 8.1. SAS Institute, Cary, NC. Schmidt M W I, Noack A G. 2000. Black carbon in soils and sediments: analysis, distribution, implications, and current challenges. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 14, 777-793

 Shao X H, Zhang J Z, Li H F, Zhou T L, Zhang H. 2011. Effects of long-term fertilizer on soil fertility and soil enzyme activities in upland red soils. Ecology and Environmental Sciences, 20, 266-269 (in Chinese)

Shao X H, Zhang J Z, Xia X Q, Yang X. 2012. Effect of long-term fertilization on enzyme activities and chemical properties of paddy soils. Ecology and Environmental Sciences, 21, 74-77. (in Chinese)

Steiner C, Teixeira W G, Lehmann J, Nehls T, de Macêdo J L V, Blum W E H, Zech W. 2007. Long term effects of manure, charcoal and mineral fertilization on crop production and fertility on a highly weathered Central Amazonian upland soil. Plant Soil, 291, 275-290

 Wang L L, Zhang S L, Yang X Y. 2013. Soil carbon storage affected by long-term land use regimes and fertilization in manural loess soil. Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer Science, 19, 404-412. (in Chinese)

Woolf D, Amonette J E, Street-Perrott F A, Lehmann J, Joseph S. 2010. Sustainable biochar to mitigate global climate change. Nature, 56, 1-9

 Xiao T, Chang S X, Richard K. 2008. Soil compaction and forest floor removal reduced microbial biomass and enzyme activities in a boreal aspen forest soil. Biology and Fertility of Soils, 44, 471-479

 Xie L J, Wang B R, Xu M G, Peng C, Liu H. 2012. Changes of soil organic carbon storage under long- term fertilization in black and grey-desert soils. Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer Science, 18, 98-105. (in Chinese)

Xu F L, Liang Y L, Zhang C E, Du S N, Chen Z J. 2004. Effects of fertilization on cucumber growth and soil biological characteristics in sunlight green house. Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology, 15, 1227-1230. (in Chinese)

Zhang L, Zhang W J, Xu M G, Cai Z J, Peng C, Wang B R, Liu H. 2009. Effects of long-term fertilization on change of labile organic carbon in three typical upland soils of China. Scientia Agricultura Sinica, 42, 1646-1655. (in Chinese)

Zhang Q C, Wang X Q, Shi Y N, Wang G H. 2010. Effects of different fertilizer treatments on ecological characteristics of microorganism in chemical fertilizer omission paddy soil. Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer Science, 16, 118-123. (in Chinese)

Zheng Y, Gao Y S, Zhang L M, He Y Q, He J Z. 2008. Effects of long-term fertilization on soil microorganisms and enzyme activities in an upland red soil. Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer Science, 14, 316-321. (in Chinese)

 Zhu L Q, Yang M F, Xu M L, Zhang W Y, Bian X M. 2012. Effects of different fertilization modes on paddy field topsoil organic carbon content and carbon sequestration duration in South China. Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology, 23, 87-95. (in Chinese)

Zimmerman A R. 2010. Abiotic and microbial oxidation of laboratory-produced black carbon (biochar). Environmental Science & Technology, 44, 1295-1301.
[1] Hu Xu, Adnan Mustafa, Lu Zhang, Shaomin Huang, Hongjun Gao, Mohammad Tahsin Karimi Nezhad, Nan Sun, Minggang Xu. Comparing carbon sequestration efficiency in chemically separated soil organic carbon fractions under long-term fertilization in three major Chinese croplands[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(7): 2841-2856.
[2] Yulu Chen, Li Huang, Jusheng Gao, Zhen Zhou, Muhammad Mehran, Mingjian Geng, Yangbo He, Huimin Zhang, Jing Huang. Long-term Chinese milk vetch incorporation promotes soil aggregate stability by affecting mineralogy and organic carbon[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(6): 2371-2388.
[3] Chao Ma, Zhifeng He, Jiang Xiang, Kexin Ding, Zhen Zhang, Chenglong Ye, Jianfei Wang, Yusef Kianpoor Kalkhajeh. A meta-analysis to explore the impact of straw decomposing microorganism inoculant-amended straw on soil organic carbon stocks[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(4): 1577-1587.
[4] Hongyu Lin, Jing Zheng, Minghua Zhou, Peng Xu, Ting Lan, Fuhong Kuang, Ziyang Li, Zhisheng Yao, Bo Zhu. Crop straw incorporation increases the soil carbon stock by improving the soil aggregate structure without stimulating soil heterotrophic respiration[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(4): 1542-1561.
[5] Yujiao Wei, Yiyun Chen, Jiaxue Wang, Peiheng Yu, Lu Xu, Chi Zhang, Huanfeng Shen, Yaolin Liu, Ganlin Zhang. Mapping soil organic carbon in fragmented agricultural landscapes: The efficacy and interpretability of multi-category remote sensing variables[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(11): 4395-4414.
[6] Aiwen Li, Jinli Cheng, Dan Chen, Xinyi Chen, Yaruo Mao, Qian Deng, Bin Zhao, Wenjiao Shi, Zemeng Fan, John P. Wilson, Tianfei Dai, Tianxiang Yue, Qiquan Li. Changes in cropland soil inorganic carbon and its relationship with nitrogen fertilization and precipitation over the past 40 years in the Sichuan Basin, China[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(11): 4415-4429.
[7] Lingxiao Zhu, Hongchun Sun, Liantao Liu, Ke Zhang, Yongjiang Zhang, Anchang Li, Zhiying Bai, Guiyan Wang, Xiaoqing Liu, Hezhong Dong, Cundong Li. Optimizing crop yields while minimizing environmental impact through deep placement of nitrogen fertilizer[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(1): 36-60.
[8] Lijun Ren, Han Yang, Jin Li, Nan Zhang, Yanyu Han, Hongtao Zou, Yulong Zhang. Organic fertilizer enhances soil aggregate stability by altering greenhouse soil content of iron oxide and organic carbon[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(1): 306-321.
[9] Wenjie Yang, Jie Yu, Yanhang Li, Bingli Jia, Longgang Jiang, Aijing Yuan, Yue Ma, Ming Huang, Hanbing Cao, Jinshan Liu, Weihong Qiu, Zhaohui Wang. Optimized NPK fertilizer recommendations based on topsoil available nutrient criteria for wheat in drylands of China[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2024, 23(7): 2421-2433.
[10] Shuo Yuan, Ruonan Li, Yinjie Zhang, Hao'an Luan, Jiwei Tang, Liying Wang, Hongjie Ji, Shaowen Huang.

Effects of long-term partial substitution of inorganic fertilizer with pig manure and/or straw on nitrogen fractions and microbiological properties in greenhouse vegetable soils [J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2024, 23(6): 2083-2098.

[11] Jialin Yang, Liangqi Ren, Nanhai Zhang, Enke Liu, Shikun Sun, Xiaolong Ren, Zhikuan Jia, Ting Wei, Peng Zhang.

Can soil organic carbon sequestration and the carbon management index be improved by changing the film mulching methods in the semiarid region? [J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2024, 23(5): 1541-1556.

[12] Yuguang Zang, Gaozhao Wu, Qiangqiang Li, Yiwen Xu, Mingming Xue, Xingyu Chen, Haiyan Wei, Weiyang Zhang, Hao Zhang, Lijun Liu, Zhiqin Wang, Junfei Gu, Jianchang Yang.

Irrigation regimes modulate non-structural carbohydrate remobilization and improve grain filling in rice (Oryza sativa L.) by regulating starch metabolism [J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2024, 23(5): 1507-1522.

[13] Minghui Cao, Yan Duan, Minghao Li, Caiguo Tang, Wenjie Kan, Jiangye Li, Huilan Zhang, Wenling Zhong, Lifang Wu.

Manure substitution improves maize yield by promoting soil fertility and mediating the microbial community in lime concretion black soil [J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2024, 23(2): 698-710.

[14] Xiaoyan Cui, Ke Yang, Weiyun Zhang, Liyang Zhang, Ding Li, Wei Wu, Yun Hu, Tingting Li, Xugang Luo. Dietary manganese supplementation inhibits abdominal fat deposition possibly by regulating gene expression and enzyme activity involved in lipid metabolism in the abdominal fat of broilers[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2024, 23(12): 4161-4171.
[15] Canping Dun, Rui Wang, Kailiang Mi, Yuting Zhang, Haipeng Zhang, Peiyuan Cui, Yanle Guo, Hao Lu, Hongcheng Zhang. One-time application of controlled-release bulk blending fertilizer enhances yield, quality and photosynthetic efficiency in late japonica rice[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2024, 23(11): 3672-3691.
No Suggested Reading articles found!