Microbial activity responses to water stress in agricultural soils from simple and complex crop rotations

SOIL ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 547-561
Author(s):  
Jörg Schnecker ◽  
D. Boone Meeden ◽  
Francisco Calderon ◽  
Michel Cavigelli ◽  
R. Michael Lehman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Enzyme Activities ◽  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Agricultural Field ◽  
N2o Production ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen ◽  
Repeated Stress ◽  
Soil Heterotrophic Respiration ◽  
Stress Cycles

Abstract. Increasing climatic pressures such as drought and flooding challenge agricultural systems and their management globally. How agricultural soils respond to soil water extremes will influence biogeochemical cycles of carbon and nitrogen in these systems. We investigated the response of soils from long-term agricultural field sites under varying crop rotational complexity to either drought or flooding stress. Focusing on these contrasting stressors separately, we investigated soil heterotrophic respiration during single and repeated stress cycles in soils from four different sites along a precipitation gradient (Colorado, MAP 421 mm; South Dakota, MAP 580 mm; Michigan, MAP 893 mm; Maryland, MAP 1192 mm); each site had two crop rotational complexity treatments. At the driest (Colorado) and wettest (Maryland) of these sites, we also analyzed microbial biomass, six potential enzyme activities, and N2O production during and after individual and repeated stress cycles. In general, we found site specific responses to soil water extremes, irrespective of crop rotational complexity and precipitation history. Drought usually caused more severe changes in respiration rates and potential enzyme activities than flooding. All soils returned to control levels for most measured parameters as soon as soils returned to control water levels following drought or flood stress, suggesting that the investigated soils were highly resilient to the applied stresses. The lack of sustained responses following the removal of the stressors may be because they are well in the range of natural in situ soil water fluctuations at the investigated sites. Without the inclusion of plants in our experiment, we found that irrespective of crop rotation complexity, soil and microbial properties in the investigated agricultural soils were more resistant to flooding but highly resilient to drought and flooding during single or repeated stress pulses.

scholarly journals Microbial activity responses to water stress in agricultural soils from simple and complex crop rotations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörg Schnecker ◽  
D. Boone Meeden ◽  
Francisco Calderon ◽  
Michel Cavigelli ◽  
R. Michael Lehman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Enzyme Activities ◽  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Agricultural Field ◽  
N2o Production ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen ◽  
Repeated Stress ◽  
Soil Heterotrophic Respiration ◽  
Stress Cycles

Abstract. Increasing climatic pressures such as drought and flooding challenge agricultural systems and their management globally. How agricultural soils respond to soil water extremes will influence biogeochemical cycles of carbon and nitrogen in these systems. We investigated the response of soils from long term agricultural field sites under varying crop rotational complexity to either drought or flooding stress. Focusing on these contrasting stressors separately, we investigated soil heterotrophic respiration during single and repeated stress cycles in soils from four different sites along a precipitation gradient (Colorado, MAP 421 mm; South Dakota, MAP 580 mm; Michigan, MAP 893 mm; Maryland, MAP 1192 mm); each site had two crop rotational complexity treatments. At the driest (Colorado) and wettest of these sites (Maryland) we also analyzed microbial biomass, six potential enzyme activities and N2O production, during and after individual and repeated stress cycles. In general, we found site specific responses to soil water extremes, irrespective of crop rotational complexity and precipitation history. Drought usually caused more severe changes in respiration rates and potential enzyme activities than flooding. All soils returned to control levels for most measured parameters as soon as soils returned to control water levels following drought or flood stress, suggesting that the investigated soils were highly resilient to the applied stresses. The lack of sustained responses following the removal of the stressors may be because they are well in the range of natural in situ soil water fluctuations at the investigated sites. Without inclusion of plants in our experiment, we found that irrespective of crop rotation complexity, soil and microbial properties in the investigated agricultural soils were more resistant to flooding but highly resilient to drought and flooding, during single or repeated stress pulses.

scholarly journals Oxygen isotope fractionation during N<sub>2</sub>O production by soil denitrification

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1129-1144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominika Lewicka-Szczebak ◽  
Jens Dyckmans ◽  
Jan Kaiser ◽  
Alina Marca ◽  
Jürgen Augustin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Isotope ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Isotope Effect ◽  
Isotope Exchange ◽  
Isotope Fractionation ◽  
Isotope Effects ◽  
N2o Production ◽  
Oxygen Isotope Fractionation ◽  
Oxygen Isotope Exchange ◽  
Incubation Experiments

Abstract. The isotopic composition of soil-derived N2O can help differentiate between N2O production pathways and estimate the fraction of N2O reduced to N2. Until now, δ18O of N2O has been rarely used in the interpretation of N2O isotopic signatures because of the rather complex oxygen isotope fractionations during N2O production by denitrification. The latter process involves nitrate reduction mediated through the following three enzymes: nitrate reductase (NAR), nitrite reductase (NIR) and nitric oxide reductase (NOR). Each step removes one oxygen atom as water (H2O), which gives rise to a branching isotope effect. Moreover, denitrification intermediates may partially or fully exchange oxygen isotopes with ambient water, which is associated with an exchange isotope effect. The main objective of this study was to decipher the mechanism of oxygen isotope fractionation during N2O production by soil denitrification and, in particular, to investigate the relationship between the extent of oxygen isotope exchange with soil water and the δ18O values of the produced N2O. In our soil incubation experiments Δ17O isotope tracing was applied for the first time to simultaneously determine the extent of oxygen isotope exchange and any associated oxygen isotope effect. We found that N2O formation in static anoxic incubation experiments was typically associated with oxygen isotope exchange close to 100 % and a stable difference between the 18O ∕ 16O ratio of soil water and the N2O product of δ18O(N2O ∕ H2O)  =  (17.5 ± 1.2) ‰. However, flow-through experiments gave lower oxygen isotope exchange down to 56 % and a higher δ18O(N2O ∕ H2O) of up to 37 ‰. The extent of isotope exchange and δ18O(N2O ∕ H2O) showed a significant correlation (R2 = 0.70, p <  0.00001). We hypothesize that this observation was due to the contribution of N2O from another production process, most probably fungal denitrification. An oxygen isotope fractionation model was used to test various scenarios with different magnitudes of branching isotope effects at different steps in the reduction process. The results suggest that during denitrification, isotope exchange occurs prior to isotope branching and that this exchange is mostly associated with the enzymatic nitrite reduction mediated by NIR. For bacterial denitrification, the branching isotope effect can be surprisingly low, about (0.0 ± 0.9) ‰, in contrast to fungal denitrification where higher values of up to 30 ‰ have been reported previously. This suggests that δ18O might be used as a tracer for differentiation between bacterial and fungal denitrification, due to their different magnitudes of branching isotope effects.

scholarly journals Organic carbon dynamics and enzyme activities in agricultural soils amended with biogas slurry, liquid manure and sewage sludge

2012 ◽  
Vol 03 (01) ◽  
pp. 104-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Britta Stumpe ◽  
Steffen Werner ◽  
Robert Jung ◽  
Stefanie Heinze ◽  
Elisabeth Jüschke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Enzyme Activities ◽  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Carbon Dynamics ◽  
Biogas Slurry ◽  
Liquid Manure

scholarly journals Using Soil Water to Control Ammonia Emission from Acid Soils with and Without Chicken Litter Biochar

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Maru Ali ◽  
Ahmed Osumanu Haruna ◽  
Nik Muhamad Abd Majid ◽  
Walter Charles Primus ◽  
Nathaniel Maikol ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Ammonia Volatilization ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Field Capacity ◽  
Urea Hydrolysis ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Soil Chemical Properties ◽  
Ammonia Emission ◽  
Ammonia Loss ◽  
Chicken Litter

Although urea use in agriculture is on the increase, increase in pH at soil microsite due to urea hydrolysis which causes ammonia emission can reduce N use efficiency. Among the interventions used to mitigate ammonia loss include urease inhibitors, clinoptilolite zeolite, coated urea, and biochar but with little attention to the use of soil water levels to control ammonia volatilization. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of soil water levels on ammonia volatilization from soils with and without chicken litter biochar. Dry soils with and without chicken litter biochar were subjected to 0%, 25% 50%, 75%, 100%, and 125% soil water. There was no urea hydrolysis in the soil without water. Chicken litter biochar as soil amendment effectively mitigated ammonia loss at 1% to 32% and 80% to 115% field capacity. However, urea used on soil only showed lower ammonia loss at 33% to 79% and 116% to 125% field capacity compared with the soils with chicken litter biochar. At 50% field capacity ammonia loss was high in soils with and without chicken litter biochar. Although chicken litter biochar is reputed for improving soil chemical properties, water levels in this present study affected soil chemical properties differently. Fifty percent field capacity, significantly reduced soil chemical properties. These findings suggest that timely application of urea at the right field capacity can mitigate ammonia emission. Therefore, whether soils are amended with or without chicken litter biochar, urea application should be avoided at 50% field capacity especially in irrigated crops.

scholarly journals Short-term effect of a crop-livestock-forestry system on soil, water and nutrient loss in the Cerrado-Amazon ecotone

2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-112
Author(s):  
Cornélio Alberto ZOLIN ◽  
Eduardo da Silva MATOS ◽  
Ciro Augusto de Souza MAGALHÃES ◽  
Janaína PAULINO ◽  
Rattan LAL ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Land Degradation ◽  
Nitrogen Loss ◽  
Environmental Conservation ◽  
Nutrient Loss ◽  
Soil Productivity ◽  
Mato Grosso ◽  
Eucalyptus Plantation ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen ◽  
Total Soil

ABSTRACT Soil, water, and nutrient loss by water erosion are among the main factors leading to land degradation, decreasing soil productivity and the provision of ecosystem services. The Cerrado-Amazon ecotone in western Brazil has suffered rapid land-use cover changes with impacts on soil erosion and land degradation. Despite the importance of the region for Brazilian agriculture and environmental conservation, studies on soil, water, and nutrient loss are still scarce. We tested integrated crop-livestock-forestry (ICLF) as a sustainable agriculture management system for the Cerrado-Amazon ecotone region. A field experiment was established in the north of Mato Grosso state to quantify total soil, water, carbon and nitrogen loss during the rainy season in 2012-2013 in plots of integrated crop-forestry (ICF), pasture (PAST), eucalyptus plantation (EUC), no-tillage crop succession (CS) and bare soil (BS). Total soil, water, carbon and nitrogen losses in BS were, on average, 96.7% higher than in ICF, EUC, PAST, and CS. ICF had significantly lower water loss than CS, EUC and PAST. Total loss of carbon (4.3 - 428.2 kg ha-1) and nitrogen (0.3 - 29.2 kg ha-1) differed significantly among treatments. The production systems with tree components (EUC and ICF) and PAST showed reduced soil and nutrients loss compared to CS. Our results demonstrated that ICLF can avoid soil quality loss and thus improve agriculture sustainability in the Cerrado-Amazon ecotone.

scholarly journals Measuring the Labile and Recalcitrant Pools of Carbon and Nitrogen in Forested and Agricultural Soils: A Study under Tropical Conditions

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 544
Author(s):  
Risely Ferraz de Almeida ◽  
Joseph Elias Rodrigues Mikhael ◽  
Fernando Oliveira Franco ◽  
Luna Monique Fonseca Santana ◽  
Beno Wendling
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Environmental Stability ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Human Intervention ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen ◽  
Nitrogen Pools ◽  
Tropical Conditions ◽  
Recalcitrant Carbon ◽  
The Impact

Soil organic carbon and nitrogen can be divided into labile and recalcitrant pools according to the time it takes to be cycled. The way in which carbon and nitrogen pools are cycled and distributed between labile and recalcitrant pools can directly relate to soil quality. This paper tested the hypothesis that labile and recalcitrant pools of carbon and nitrogen vary between agricultural soils with different species and fertilization management systems (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium need) under tropical conditions. This study aimed to examine the impact of land-uses on stocks and losses of carbon and nitrogen under tropical conditions. We explored labile (soil microbial biomass and labile carbon) and recalcitrant carbon pools (humin, humic acid, and fulvic acid) in forested and agricultural soils, defined as latosol (forest, fertilized pasture, and unfertilized pasture) and cambisol (forest, coast pasture, sugarcane, and silage corn). Forested soil was used as an appropriate use to soil conservation in tropical that presents levels adequate of carbon and nitrogen stocks and biological condition in soil. Results showed that pools of labile and recalcitrant carbon are different on soil layers and the use of soil. Forest use in cambisol and latosol promoted higher labile and recalcitrant pools of carbon and nitrogen due to the greater environmental stability without human intervention. On the other hand, human intervention occurred in fertilized pasture and coast pasture; however, both uses presented similar recalcitrant carbon and nitrogen pools when compared to forested soil on the soil surface due to fertilizer uses and the high volume of the grass root system. Overall, our findings reveal that under tropical conditions, agriculture and forested soil can present similar recalcitrant pools of carbon and nitrogen if agricultural soils are associated with the appropriate fertilizer management. Pasture with adequate fertilization management systems can be used as an alternative to recover degraded areas with low levels of recalcitrant carbon and nitrogen pools.

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