Abstract
Returning crop residue may result in nutrient reduction in soil in the first few years. A two-year field experiment was conducted to assess whether this negative effect is alleviated by improved crop residue management (CRM). Nine treatments (3 CRM and 3 N fertilizer rates) were used. The CRM treatments were (1) R0: 100 % of the N using mineral fertilizer with no crop residues return; (2) R: crop residue plus mineral fertilizer as for the R0; and (3) Rc: crop residue plus 83 % of the N using mineral and 17 % manure fertilizer. Each CRM received N fertilizer rates at 270, 360, and 450 kg N ha−1 year−1. At the end of the experiment, soil NO3-N was reduced by 33 % from the R relative to the R0 treatment, while the Rc treatment resulted in a 21 to 44 % increase in occluded particulate organic C and N, and 80 °C extracted dissolved organic N, 19 to 32 % increase in microbial biomass C and protease activity, and higher monounsaturated phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA):saturated PLFA ratio from stimulating growth of indigenous bacteria when compared with the R treatment. Principal component analysis showed that the Biolog and PLFA profiles in the three CRM treatments were different from each other. Overall, these properties were not influenced by the used N fertilizer rates. Our results indicated that application of 17 % of the total N using manure in a field with crop residues return was effective for improving potential plant N availability and labile soil organic matter, primarily due to a shift in the dominant microorganisms.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
An S, Zheng F, Zhang F, Pelt SV, Hamer U, Makeschin F (2008) Soil quality degradation processes along a deforestation chronosequence in the Ziwuling area, China. Catena 75:248–256
Bastida F, Kandeler E, Moreno JL, Ros M, García C, Hernández T (2008) Application of fresh and composted organic wastes modifies structure, size and activity of soil microbial community under semiarid climate. Appl Soil Ecol 40:318–329
Blagodatskaya EV, Blagodatsky SA, Anderson TH, Kuzyakov Y (2009) Contrasting effects of glucose, living roots and maize straw on microbial growth kinetics and substrate availability in soil. Eur J Soil Sci 60:186–197
Brant JB, Sulzman EW, Myrold DD (2006) Microbial community utilization of added carbon substrates in response to long-term carbon input manipulation. Soil Biol Biochem 38:2219–2232
Bremner JM (1965) Total nitrogen. In: Black CA, Evans DD, Ensminger LE, White JL, Clark FE, Dinauer RC (eds) Methods of soil analysis. Part 2, Chemical and microbiological properties, vol 9, Agronomy No. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI, pp 1149–1178
Buchanan M, King LD (1992) Seasonal fluctuations in soil microbial biomass carbon, phosphorus, and activity in no-till and reduced-chemical-input maize agroecosystems. Biol Fertil Soils 13:211–217
Böhme L, Langer U, Böhme F (2005) Microbial biomass, enzyme activities and microbial community structure in two European long-term field experiments. Agric Ecosyst Environ 109:141–152
Cai ZC, Qin SW (2006) Dynamics of crop yields and soil organic carbon in a long-term fertilization experiment in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain of China. Geoderma 136:708–715
Chen CR, Xu ZH, Mathers NJ (2004) Soil carbon pools in adjacent natural and plantation forests of subtropical Australia. Soil Sci Soc Am J 68:282–291
Chen J, Yu Z, Ouyang J, van Mensvoort MEF (2006) Factors affecting soil quality changes in the North China Plain: a case study of Quzhou County. Agric Syst 91:171–188
Chen B, Liu E, Tian Q, Yan C, Zhang Y (2014) Soil nitrogen dynamics and crop residues. A review. Agron Sustain Dev 34:429–442. doi:10.1007/s13593-014-0207-8
Chu H, Lin X, Fujii T, Morimoto S, Yagi K, Hu J, Zhang J (2007) Soil microbial biomass, dehydrogenase activity, bacterial community structure in response to long-term fertilizer management. Soil Biol Biochem 39:2971–2976
Chodak M, Khanna P, Beese F (2003) Hot water extractable C and N in relation to microbiological properties of soils under beech forests. Biol Fertil Soils 39:123–130
Cookson WR, Murphy DV (2004) Quantifying the contribution of dissolved organic matter to soil nitrogen cycling using 15N isotopic pool dilution. Soil Biol Biochem 36:2097–2100
Curtin D, Wright CE, Beare MH, McCallum FM (2006) Hot water-extractable nitrogen as an indicator of soil nitrogen availability. Soil Sci Soc Am J 70:1512–1521
Dick RP (1992) A review: long-term effects of agricultural systems on soil biochemical and microbial parameters. Agric Ecosyst Environ 40:25–36
Dou F, Wright AL, Hons FM (2007) Sensitivity of labile soil organic carbon to tillage in wheat-based cropping systems. Soil Sci Soc Am J 72:1445–1453
Elliott ET (1986) Aggregate structure and carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in native and cultivated soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 50:627–633
Frankenberger WT Jr, Johanson JB (1983) Factors affecting invertase activity in soils. Plant Soil 74:313–323
Frostegard A, Bååth E (1996) The use of phospholipid fatty acid analysis to estimate bacterial and fungal biomass in soil. Biol Fertil Soils 22:59–65
Garland JL, Mills AL (1991) Classification and characterization of heterotrophic microbial communities on the basis of patterns of community-level sole-carbon-source utilization. Appl Environ Microbiol 57:2351–2359
Huang Z, Xu Z, Chen C (2008) Effect of mulching on labile soil organic matter pools, microbial community functional diversity and nitrogen transformations in two hardwood plantations of subtropical Australia. Appl Soil Ecol 40:229–239
Huang Z, Wan X, He Z, Yu Z, Wang M, Hu Z, Yang Y (2013) Soil microbial biomass, community composition and soil nitrogen cycling in relation to tree species in subtropical China. Soil Biol Biochem 62:68–75
Jangid K, Williams MA, Franzluebbers AJ, Sanderlin JS, Reeves JH, Jenkins MB, Endale DM, Coleman DC, Whitman WB (2008) Relative impacts of land-use, management intensity and fertilization upon soil microbial community structure in agricultural systems. Soil Biol Biochem 40:2843–2853
Keeney DR, Bremner JM (1966) Comparison and evaluation of laboratory methods of obtaining an index of soil nitrogen availability. Agron J 58:498–503
Liu Y, Dell E, Yao H, Rufty T, Shi W (2011) Microbial and soil properties in bentgrass putting greens: Impacts of nitrogen fertilization rates. Geoderma 162:215–221
Lucas RW, Casper BB, Jackson JK, Balser TC (2007) Soil microbial communities and extracellular enzyme activity in the New Jersey Pinelands. Soil Biol Biochem 39:2508–2519
Myrold DD, Posavatz NR (2007) Potential importance of bacteria and fungi in nitrate assimilation in soil. Soil Biol Biochem 39:1737–1743
Nayak DR, Babu YJ, Adhya TK (2007) Long-term application of compost influences microbial biomass and enzyme activities in a tropical Aeric Endoaquept planted to rice under flooded condition. Soil Biol Biochem 39:1897–1906
Nelson DW, Sommers LE (1982) Total carbon, organic carbon and organic matter. In: Page AL, Miller RH, Keeney DR (eds) Methods of soil analysis, Part 2. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI, pp 539–579
Ocio JA, Brookes PC (1990) An evaluation of methods for measuring the microbial biomass in soils following recent additions of wheat straw, and the characterization of the biomass that develops. Soil Biol Biochem 22:685–694
Rasool R, Kukal SS, Hira GS (2008) Soil organic carbon and physical properties as affected by long-term application of FYM and inorganic fertilizers in maize–wheat system. Soil Tillage Res 101:31–36
Six J, Elliott ET, Paustian K, Doran JW (1998) Aggregation and soil organic matter accumulation in cultivated and native grassland soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 62:1367–1377
Six J, Conant RT, Paul EA, Paustian K (2002a) Stabilization mechanisms of soil organic matter: implications for C-saturation of soils. Plant Soil 241:155–176
Six J, Callewaert P, Lenders S, De Gryze S, Morris SJ, Gregorich EG, Paul EA, Paustian K (2002b) Measuring and understanding carbon storage in afforested soils by physical fractionation. Soil Sci Soc Am J 66:1981–1987
Saha S, Prakash V, Kundu S, Kumar N, Mina NK (2008) Soil enzymatic activity as affected by long term application of farm yard manure and mineral fertilizer under a rainfed soybean–wheat system in N-W Himalaya. Eur J Soil Biol 44:309–315
Spring S, Schulze R, Overmann J, Schleifer KH (2000) Identification and characterization of ecologically significant prokaryotes in the sediment of freshwater lakes: molecular and cultivation studies. FEMS Microbiol Rev 24:573–590
Stark CH, Condron LM, O’Callaghan M, Stewart A, Di HJ (2008) Differences in soil enzyme activities, microbial community structure and short-term nitrogen mineralization resulting from farm management history and organic matter amendments. Soil Biol Biochem 40:1352–1363
Stott DE, Karlen DL, Cambardella CA, Harmel RD (2013) A soil quality and metabolic activity assessment after 57 years of agricultural management. Soil Sci Soc Am J 77:903–913
Sundh I, Nilsson M, Borga P (1997) Variation in microbial community structure in two boreal peatlands as determined by analysis of phospholipid fatty acid profiles. Appl Environ Microbiol 63:1476–1482
Tu C, Ristaino JB, Hu S (2006) Soil microbial biomass and activity in organic tomato farming system: effects of organic inputs and straw mulching. Soil Biol Biochem 38:247–266
Vance ED, Brookes PC, Jenkinson DS (1987) An extraction method for measuring microbial biomass C. Soil Biol Biochem 19:703–707
Waldrop MP, Balser TC, Firestone MK (2000) Linking microbial community composition to function in a tropical soil. Soil Biol Biochem 32:1837–1846
Willson TC, Paul EA, Harwood RR (2001) Biologically active soil organic matter fractions in sustainable cropping systems. Appl Soil Ecol 16:63–76
Zechmeister-Boltenstern S, Michel K, Pfeffer M (2011) Soil microbial community structure in European forests in relation to forest type and atmospheric nitrogen deposition. Plant Soil 343:37–50
Zhang QC, Shamsi IH, Xu DT, Wang GH, Lin XY, Jilani G, Hussain N, Chaudhry AN (2012) Chemical fertilizer and organic manure inputs in soil exhibit a vice versa pattern of microbial community structure. Appl Soil Ecol 57:1–8
Zhao B, Chen J, Zhang J, Xin X, Hao X (2013) How different long-term fertilization strategies influence crop yield and soil properties in a maize field in the North China Plain. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci 176:99–1
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41271311), National Key Technology Support Program (2012BAD05B0203), and Science and Technology Service Network Initiative (KFJ-SW-STS-142-03, KFJ-EW-STS-083-2, KFJ-EW-STS-055-1).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible editor: Hailong Wang
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhao, B., Zhang, J., Yu, Y. et al. Crop residue management and fertilization effects on soil organic matter and associated biological properties. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 17581–17591 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6927-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6927-3