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Root-derived respiration and nitrous oxide production as affected by crop phenology and nitrogen fertilization

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Abstract

In annual crops, the partitioning of photosynthates to support root growth, respiration and rhizodeposition should be greater during early development than in later reproductive stages due to source/sink relationships in the plant. Therefore, seasonal fluctuations in carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) production from roots and root-associated soil may be related to resource partitioning by the crop. Greenhouse studies used 13C and 15N stable isotopes to evaluate the carbon (C) partitioning and nitrogen (N) uptake by corn and soybean. We also measured the CO2 and N2O production from planted pots as affected by crop phenology and N fertilization. Specific root-derived respiration was related to the 13C allocated to roots and was greatest during early vegetative growth. Root-derived respiration and rhizodeposition were greater for corn than soybean. The 15N uptake by corn increased between vegetative growth, tasseling and milk stages, but the 15N content in soybean was not affected by phenology. A peak in N2O production was observed with corn at the milk stage, suggesting that the corn rhizosphere supported microbial communities that produced N2O. Most of the 15N-NO3 applied to soybean was not taken up by the plant and negative N2O production during vegetative growth and floral initiation stages suggests that soybean roots supported the reduction of N2O to dinitrogen (N2). We conclude that crop phenology and soil N availability exert important controls on rhizosphere processes, leading to temporal variation in CO2 and N2O production.

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Abbreviations

ANOVA:

analysis of variance

DAS:

days after seeding

HSD:

honestly significantly different

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Acknowledgements

Funding for this project came from the Biological Greenhouse Gases Sources and Sinks Program of the Canadian Agri-Food Research Council.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, Macdonald Campus, 21 111 Lakeshore Road, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, H9X 3V9, Canada

    Benjamin K. Sey, Ameur M. Manceur & Joann K. Whalen

  2. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0C6, Canada

    Edward G. Gregorich

  3. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2650 Hochelaga Boulevard, Quebec City, QC, G1V 2J3, Canada

    Philippe Rochette

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  1. Benjamin K. Sey
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  2. Ameur M. Manceur
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  3. Joann K. Whalen
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  4. Edward G. Gregorich
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  5. Philippe Rochette
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Correspondence to Joann K. Whalen.

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Responsible Editor: Elizabeth Baggs.

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Sey, B.K., Manceur, A.M., Whalen, J.K. et al. Root-derived respiration and nitrous oxide production as affected by crop phenology and nitrogen fertilization. Plant Soil 326, 369–379 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-009-0018-x

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