scholarly journals Effects of Straw Return Mode on Soil Aggregates and Associated Carbon in the North China Plain

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Shoutian Ma ◽  
Zhengrong Kan ◽  
Jianying Qi ◽  
Hailin Zhang
Keyword(s):  
North China Plain ◽  
North China ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Soil Aggregates ◽  
Soil Layer ◽  
Residue Management ◽  
The North ◽  
The North China Plain ◽  
Significant Difference

Crop straw is widely used to manage soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration as an environmentally friendly practice in the North China Plain. However, little is known about the effects of straw returning modes on SOC sequestration in this region. Thus, a field experiment was conducted to study SOC accumulation and mineralization as well as aggregate stability and aggregate-associated SOC for the following three straw returning modes: no straw returning (NSR), only wheat straw returning (WR), and both wheat and maize straw returning (WR-MR). SOC concentration and storage were higher for WR and WR-MR than for NSR in the 0–20 cm soil layer, respectively (p < 0.05). Although WR and WR-MR resulted in higher mineralization per unit of soil than NSR, no significant difference in mineralization per unit of soil carbon was observed among straw returning modes in the upper soil layer. The mean weight diameters of aggregates at 0–5 cm were higher under treatments with crop retention than under NSR. At this soil depth, the aggregate-associated C concentration and stock for each soil size were significantly decreased by NSR. These findings suggest that WR-MR and WR are effective residue management practices. In particular, WR is the optimal strategy to enhance SOC sequestration, considering other applications of straw (e.g., forage, fuel, or biomass).

scholarly journals Influence of Tillage, Straw-Returning and Mineral Fertilization on the Stability and Associated Organic Content of Soil Aggregates in the North China Plain

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 951
Author(s):  
Huayan Zhang ◽  
Ling’an Niu ◽  
Kelin Hu ◽  
Jinmin Hao ◽  
Fan Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North China Plain ◽  
North China ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Soil Aggregates ◽  
Aggregate Stability ◽  
Soil Aggregate ◽  
Soil Aggregate Stability ◽  
The North ◽  
The North China Plain

Agricultural management, such as tillage and straw-returning, affect soil fertility and nutrient cycling in agroecosystems. With the increasing food demand and challenges imposed by climate change, these effects on soil fertility need to be closely monitored, so that short-term agricultural intensification should not threaten the long-term productivity of the land. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to examine the long-term effects of different management practices on soil aggregate stability and associated organic carbon (OC) and nitrogen (N) over a 33-year period in the croplands of the North China Plain. Bulk soils from the surface and subsurface layers were fractionated using the wet sieving approach. The results showed that the silt + clay (SC) fractions (<0.053 mm) were predominant, accounting for 32–56% of the mass at the 0–20 cm depth, and accounting for 41–55% of the mass at the 20–40 cm depth. Additionally, long-term (33 years) no-tillage management and straw-returning at different application rates increased the mass of large soil macroaggregates (LMA), the LMA- and macroaggregate-associated OC content, but decreased the SC-associated OC content. Mineral N and P fertilizers had a minor effect on the stabilization of soil aggregates. The treatment with straw significantly increased the mean weight diameter (MWD) and geometric mean diameter (GWD), compared with the treatment without straw. Our results indicate that carefully regulated management practices would enhance soil aggregate stability, associated OC and N content in the intensive agroecosystem.

Effects of Typical Chemical Agents on Preventing Pollution and Controlling Drought in a Cherry Orchard

2012 ◽  
Vol 550-553 ◽  
pp. 1340-1344
Author(s):  
Ren Kuan Liao ◽  
Pei Ling Yang ◽  
Shu Mei Ren ◽  
Hang Yi ◽  
Long Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Content ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Soil Water Content ◽  
North China Plain ◽  
North China ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Soil Layer ◽  
The North ◽  
The North China Plain ◽  
Chemical Agents

In the North China plain, serious Non-point-source (NPS) pollution and drought are two great concerns in agricultural production. In our studies, two typical chemical agents ( SAP and FA ) were selected to control drought and pollution in a cheery orchard. Soil water content, nutrient transport in soil profile have been researched. The results showed that the soil water content of treatments with chemical agents increased maximally by 19.4% relative to treatment without chemical agents, and increased by 35.2% for Ammonium-N in 20-60 cm soil layer ( main root zone ). However, in 60-120 cm deeper soil layer, the water leakage of treatments with chemical agents decreased averagely by 15.1% relative to treatment without chemical agents, and increased by 43.8% for Nitrate-N. The chemical agents hold water and nutrient in root zone and thus reducing the risk of pollutant leaching into the underground water. It can be found that treatment ( 150kg/h㎡ SAP + 300 times FA ) is the optimal combination group in all treatments. The chemical prevention technology provided a new guide for controlling drought and reducing NPS pollution in cherry planting in the North China plain.

Carbon sequestration and mineralization in soil aggregates under long-term conservation tillage in the North China Plain

CATENA ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 188 ◽  
pp. 104428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zheng-Rong Kan ◽  
Shou-Tian Ma ◽  
Qiu-Yue Liu ◽  
Bing-Yang Liu ◽  
Ahmad Latif Virk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
North China Plain ◽  
North China ◽  
Conservation Tillage ◽  
Soil Aggregates ◽  
The North ◽  
The North China Plain

scholarly journals Effects of Strategic Tillage on Soil Physicochemical Properties and Grain Yield in the North China Plain

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1167
Author(s):  
Qiuyue Liu ◽  
Zhengrong Kan ◽  
Cong He ◽  
Hailin Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Physicochemical Properties ◽  
Soil Compaction ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
North China Plain ◽  
North China ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Soil Physicochemical Properties ◽  
The North ◽  
The North China Plain ◽  
No Till

No-till (NT) practice has been widely adopted to improve soil quality, but soil compaction and soil organic carbon (SOC) stratification under long-term NT limit crop production. Strategic tillage (ST), based on single tillage, is proposed as an attractive management practice to sustain the benefits of continuous NT and mitigate its adverse effects. Four tillage systems, including continuous rotary tillage (RT), NT, rotary tillage + subsoiling (RS), and no-till + subsoiling (NS), were implemented to investigate the effects of strategic tillage (i.e., RS and NS) on soil physical properties (compaction and aggregates), SOC, and crop yield in the North China Plain (NCP). The results showed that ST as expected decreased soil bulk density, penetration resistance, and SOC stratification compared with RT and NT at 0–20 cm soil depth (p < 0.05). At 0–10 cm soil depth, more macroaggregates (>0.25 mm) were observed in NT and NS, contributing to higher mean weight and geometric mean diameters, this compared with RT and RS. Additionally, macroaggregate associated SOC was higher, thus resulting in higher SOC storage in NT (31.4–33.4 Mg ha −1) and NS (33.3–35.4 Mg ha−1) at 0–30 cm depth (p < 0.05). Low soil compaction and high SOC in NS were beneficial for the grain yield of wheat and maize, significantly higher by 8.7–32.5% and 14.0–29.8% compared with the other treatments, respectively (p < 0.05). Based on our findings, NS seems to be a promising alternative tillage system to improve soil physicochemical properties and crop production in the NCP. More studies are therefore needed to better understand the benefit of NS.

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