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Ozone pollution influences soil carbon and nitrogen sequestration and aggregate composition in paddy soils

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Abstract

Background and aims

Much attention has focused on the effects of tropospheric ozone (O3) on terrestrial ecosystems and plant growth. Since O3 pollution is currently an issue in China and many parts of the world, understanding the effects of elevated O3 on soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) sequestration is essential for efforts to predict C and N cycles in terrestrial ecosystems under predicted increases in O3. Thus the main objective of this study was to determine whether an increases in atmospheric O3 concentration influenced soil organic C (SOC) and N sequestration.

Methods

A free-air O3 enrichment (O3-FACE) experiment was started in 2007 and used continuous O3 exposure from March to November each year during crop growth stage in a rice (Oryza sativa L.)—wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) rotation field in the Jiangsu Province, China. We investigated differences in SOC and N and soil aggregate composition in both elevated and ambient O3 conditions.

Results

Elevated atmospheric O3 (18–80 nmol mol−1 or 50 % above the ambient) decreased the SOC and N concentration in the 0–20 cm soil layer after 5 years. Elevated O3 significantly decreased the SOC concentration by 17 % and 5.6 % in the 0–3 cm and the 10–20 cm layers, respectively. Elevated O3 significantly decreased the N concentration by 8.2–27.8 % in three layers at the 20 cm depth. In addition, elevated O3 influenced the formation and transformation of soil aggregates and the distribution of SOC and N in the aggregates across soil layer classes. Elevated O3 significantly decreased the macro-sized aggregate fraction (16.8 %) and associated C and N (0.5 g kg−1 and 0.32 g kg−1, respectively), and significantly increased the silt+ clay-sized aggregate fraction (61 %) and associated C (1.7 g kg−1) in the 0–3 cm layer. Elevated O3 significantly decreased the macro-sized aggregate fraction (9.6 %) and associated C and N (1.4 g kg−1 and 0.35 g kg−1, respectively), and significantly increased the silt+ clay-sized aggregate fraction (41.8 %) and decreased the corresponding associated N (0.14 g kg−1) in the 3–10 cm layer. Elevated O3 did not significantly effect the formation and transformation of aggregates in the 10–20 cm layer, yet it did significantly increase the C concentration in the macro-sized fraction (1 g kg−1) and decrease the N concentration in the macro- and micro-sized fractions (0.24 g kg−1 and 0.16 g kg−1, respectively).

Conclusion

Long-term exposure to elevated atmospheric O3 negatively affected the physical structure of the soil and impaired soil C and N sequestration.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 41003030 and 40901146), Open Research Fund Program of State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture (grant no. Y052010030), the International S & T Cooperation Program of China (Grant no. 2009DFA31110), the Knowledge Innovation Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant no. KZCX2-EW-414), and the Global Environment Research Fund by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan (Grant no. C-062).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Agriculture, Henan University of Science and Technology, 70# Tianjin Road, Luoyang, Henan Province, 471003, People’s Republic of China

    Taiji Kou & Lirui Wang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, People’s Republic of China

    Taiji Kou, Jianguo Zhu & Zubin Xie

  3. Puyang Vocational and Technical College, Puyang, 457000, People’s Republic of China

    Lirui Wang

  4. International Center for Ecology, Meteorology & Environment, School of Applied Meteorology, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, People’s Republic of China

    Yanling Wang

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  1. Taiji Kou
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Correspondence to Taiji Kou.

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Responsible Editor: Eric Paterson.

Taiji Kou and Jianguo Zhu contributed equally to this publication.

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Kou, T., Wang, L., Zhu, J. et al. Ozone pollution influences soil carbon and nitrogen sequestration and aggregate composition in paddy soils. Plant Soil 380, 305–313 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2096-7

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