Abstract
A 15 N tracing study was conducted with soils from a long-term nitrogen (N) fertilization experiment to quantify the concurrent gross N transformation rates in soil and the underlying mechanisms for crop yield and N2O emission variability. The treatments were chemical fertilization (NPK, NP, PK, NK), organic fertilization (OF), half chemical/organic fertilization (HOF), and no fertilization (control, CK). The results showed that 30 years of repeated organic or chemical N applications significantly stimulated gross rates of N mineralization and autotrophic nitrification compared with CK. In addition, gross rates of N mineralization (except NP) and autotrophic nitrification (except CK, PK) in all treatments were significantly higher in 2019 (30 years) than in 2007 (18 years). However, the immobilization of mineral N decreased significantly (near to zero) after 30 years of repeated N applications compared to CK or the results of 18 years. The highest maize yields were observed in NPK, but they were not significantly different from HOF yields. The OM yields significantly increased with the duration of the experiment and reached values comparable to NPK yields after more than 12 years of repeated N applications. There was a logarithmic positive relationship between maize yields and gross N mineralization rates (p < 0.01), indicating that it was the key factor explaining the variations in yields. Long-term organic or chemical N applications significantly stimulated N2O emission rates, in line with the stimulation of gross autotrophic nitrification rates. Highest N2O emissions were associated with the organic fertilization treatments. Considering the most suitable climate-smart agricultural practice, taking into account yield, N2O emissions, and carbon sequestration, the combination of organic and chemical N fertilizers can be recommended for the region where the study was carried out.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Booth MS, Stark JM, Rastetter E (2005) Controls on nitrogen cycling in terrestrial ecosystems: a synthetic analysis of literature data. Ecol Monogr 75:139–157
Burton J, Chen C, Xu Z, Ghadiri H (2007) Gross nitrogen transformations in adjacent native and plantation forests of subtropical Australia. Soil Biol Biochem 39:426–433
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
Chang SC, Jackson ML (1957) Fractionation of soil phosphorus. Soil Sci 84:133–144
Chu HY, Fujii T, Morimoto S, Lin XG, Yagi K, Hu JL, Zhang JB (2007) Community structure of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria under long-term application of mineral fertilizer and organic manure in a sandy loam soil. Appl Environ Microbiol 73:485–491
Chu HY, Fujii T, Morimoto S, Lin XG, Yagi K (2008) Population size and specific nitrification potential of soil ammonia-oxidizing bacteria under long-term fertilizer management. Soil Biol Biochem 40:1960–1963
Cordovil C, Coutinho J, Goss M, Cabral F (2005) Potentially mineralizable nitrogen from organic materials applied to a sandy soil: fitting the one-pool exponential model. Soil Use Manage 21:65–72
Dai S, Wang J, Cheng Y, Zhang J, Cai Z (2017) Effects of long-term fertilization on soil gross N transformation rates and their implications. J Integr Agric 16:2863–2870
Ding WX, Meng L, Cai ZC, Han FX (2007) Effects of long-term amendment of organic manure and nitrogen fertilizer on nitrous oxide emission in a sandy loam soil. J Environ Sci 19:185–193
Ding WX, Yagi K, Cai ZC, Han FX (2010) Impact of long-term application of fertilizers on N2O and NO production potential in an intensively cultivated sandy loam soil. Water Air Soil Pollut 212:141–153
Dong ZX, Zhu B, Zeng ZB (2014) The influence of N-fertilization regimes on N2O emissions and denitrification in rain-fed cropland during the rainy season. Environ Sci Proc Imp 16:2545–2453
Enwall K, Philippot L, Hallin S (2005) Activity and composition of the denitrifying bacterial community respond differently to long-term fertilization. Appl Environ Microbiol 71:8335–8343
Gibbs P, Barraclough D (1998) Gross mineralisation of nitrogen during the decomposition of leaf protein I (ribulose 1,5-diphosphate carboxylase) in the presence or absence of sucrose. Soil Biol Biochem 30:1821–1827
Hartmann TE, Yue SC, Schulz R, Chen XP, Zhang FS, Müller T (2014) Nitrogen dynamics, apparent mineralization and balance calculations in a maize-wheat double cropping system of the North China Plain. Field Crops Res 160:22–30
Kaiser EA, Kohrs K, Kucke M, Schnug E, Heinemeyer O, Munch JC (1998) Nitrous oxide release from arable soil: importance of N-fertilization, crops and temporal variation. Soil Biol Biochem 30:1553–1563
Khalil M, Rosenani AB, Cleemput O, Boeckx P, Shamshuddin J, Ishak C (2002) Nitrous oxide production from an Ultisol of the humid tropics treated with different nitrogen sources and moisture regimes. Biol Fertil Soils 36:59–65
Li Z, Song M, Li D, Ma L, Zhao B, Zhang J (2020) Effect of long-term fertilization on decomposition of crop residues and their incorporation into microbial communities of 6-year stored soils. Biol Fertil Soils 56:25–37
Li ZL, Zeng ZQ, Song ZP, Wang FQ, Tian DS, Mi WH, Huang X, Wang JS, Song L, Yang ZK, Wang J, Feng HJ, Jiang LF, Chen Y, Luo YQ, Niu SL (2021) Vital roles of soil microbes in driving terrestrial nitrogen immobilization. Glob Chang Biol 27:1848–1858
Liu X, Lamb EG, Zhang S (2020) Nitrogen addition impacts on soil microbial stoichiometry are driven by changes in plant resource stoichiometry not by the composition of main microbial groups in an alpine meadow. Biol Fertil Soils 56:261–271
Long GQ, Sun B (2012) Nitrogen leaching under corn cultivation stabilized after four years application of pig manure to red soil in subtropical China. Agric Ecosyst Environ 146:73–80
Maljanen M, Liikanen A, Silvola J, Martikainen PJ (2003) Nitrous oxide emissions from boreal organic soil under different land-use. Soil Biol Biochem 35:689–700
Mary B, Recous S, Darwis D, Robin D (1996) Interactions between decomposition of plant residues and nitrogen cycling in soil. Plant Soil 181:71–82
Meng L, Ding W, Cai Z (2005) Long-term application of organic manure and nitrogen fertilizer on N2O emissions, soil quality and crop production in a sandy loam soil. Soil Biol Biochem 37:2037–2045
Müller C, Rütting T, Kattge J, Laughlin RJ, Stevens RJ (2007) Estimation of parameters in complex 15N tracing models by Monte Carlo sampling. Soil Biol Biochem 39:715–726
Müller C, Laughlin RJ, Christie P, Watson CJ (2011) Effects of repeated fertilizer and cattle slurry applications over 38 years on N dynamics in a temperate grassland soil. Soil Biol Biochem 43:1362–1371
Pernes-Debuyser A, Tessier D (2004) Soil physical properties affected by long-term fertilization. Eur J Soil Sci 55:505–512
Prosser JI (1990) Mathematical modeling of nitrification processes. Adv Microb Ecol 11:263–304
Schimel JP, Bennett J (2004) Nitrogen mineralization: challenges of a changing paradigm. Ecology 85:591–602
Stevens RJ, Laughlin RJ (2001) Effect of liquid manure on the mole fraction of nitrous oxide evolved from soil containing nitrate. Chemosphere 42:105–111
Wang J, Zhu B, Zhang JB, Müller C, Cai ZC (2015) Mechanisms of soil N dynamics following long-term application of organic fertilizers to subtropical rain-fed purple soil in China. Soil Biol Biochem 91:222–231
Wang J, Cheng Y, Jiang YJ, Sun B, Fan JB, Zhang JB, Müller C, Cai ZC (2017) Effects of 14 years of repeated pig manure applications on gross nitrogen transformations in an upland soil. Plant Soil 415:161–173
Weaver RW, Angle S, Bottomley P, Bezdicek D, Smith S, Tabatabai A, Wollum A (Eds) (1994) Methods of soil analysis. Part 2, Microbiological and biochemical properties. Soil Science Society of America Inc., Madison
Wei X, Zhu Z, Liu Y, Luo Y, Deng Y, Xu X, Liu S, Richter A, Shibistova O, Guggenberger G, Wu J, Ge T (2020) C:N: P stoichiometry regulates soil organic carbon mineralization and concomitant shifts in microbial community composition in paddy soil. Biol Fertil Soils 56:1093–1107
Yu HY, Ding WX, Luo JF, Donnison A, Zhang JB (2012) Long-term effect of compost and inorganic fertilizer on activities of carbon-cycle enzymes in aggregates of an intensively cultivated sandy loam. Soil Use Manage 28:347–360
Zhang JB, Cai ZC, Yang WY, Zhu TB, Yu YJ, Yan XY, Jia ZJ (2012a) Long-term field fertilization affects soil nitrogen transformations in a rice-wheat-rotation cropping system. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci 175:939–946
Zhang JB, Zhu TB, Cai ZC, Qin SW, Müller C (2012b) Effects of long-term repeated mineral and organic fertilizer applications on soil nitrogen transformations. Eur J Soil Sci 63:75–85
Zhang JB, Zhu TB, Meng TZ, Zhang YC, Yang JJ, Yang WY, Müller C, Cai ZC (2013) Agricultural land use affects nitrate production and conservation in humid subtropical soils in China. Soil Biol Biochem 62:107–114
Zhang JB, Tian P, Tang JL, Yuan L, Ke Y, Cai ZC, Zhu B, Müller C (2016) The characteristics of soil N transformations regulate the composition of hydrologic N export from terrestrial ecosystem. J Geophys Res–Biogeo 121:1409–1419
Zhang JB, Cai ZC, Müller C (2018) Terrestrial N cycling associated with climate and plant-specific N preferences: a review. Eur J Soil Sci 69:488–501
Zhang Y, Cai Z, Zhang JB, Müller C (2020) C:N ratio is not a reliable predictor of N2O production in acidic soils after a 30-day artificial manipulation. Sci Total Environ 725:138427
Zhao W, Cai ZC, Xu Z (2007) Does ammonium-based N addition influence nitrification and acidification in humid subtropical soils of China? Plant Soil 297:213–221
Zhong Y, Yan W, Shangguan Z (2015) Soil carbon and nitrogen fractions in the soil profile and their response to long-term nitrogen fertilization in a wheat field. Catena 135:35–46
Acknowledgements
The study was carried out as part of the IAEA-funded coordinated research project “Minimizing farming impacts on climate change by enhancing carbon and nitrogen capture and storage in Agro-Ecosystems (D1.50.16)” and was carried out in close collaboration with the German Science Foundation research unit DASIM (FOR 2337).
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 41830642, and U20A20107], the CAS Interdisciplinary Innovation Team project [grant number JCTD-2018–06], and the “Double World-Classes” Development in Geography project.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher's note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
He, M., Xin, X., Meng, L. et al. Long-term appropriate N management can continuously enhance gross N mineralization rates and crop yields in a maize-wheat rotation system. Biol Fertil Soils 59, 501–511 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-021-01595-9
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-021-01595-9