Abstract
Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture production are predicted to increase as the world’s population and demand for food increases. This research assessed the influence of tillage systems on CO2, N2O and CH4 fluxes and soil properties in spring wheat–field pea sequence in a rain-fed semi-arid environment. The tillage practices included; conventional tillage with straw removed (T), no–till with straw removed (NT), no-till with straw retention on the soil surface (NTS) and conventional tillage with straw incorporated (TS). Greenhouse gas emissions were monitored during the 2013, 2014 and 2015 cropping seasons using a carbon dioxide analyzer and static chamber-gas chromatography. Although the results showed that all treatments served as sources of atmospheric CO2 and N2O, and a sink of atmospheric CH4, CO2 and N2O emissions significantly decreased by 21 and 34 % in NTS sites, and CH4 uptake increased by 22 % compared with T fields. Soil organic carbon (0–30 cm) increased by 24, 19 and 7 % in NTS compared to T, NT and TS respectively. In addition, the contribution to increase soil organic carbon was much higher under straw retention treatments. T plots significantly increased global warming potential by 37 and 30 % in N2O and CH4 versus NTS soils. NTS increased straw and grain yield compared with straw removal treatments (NT and T), but that had no effect compared with TS treatment. NTS farming practices demonstrated increases in crop productivity and reduced greenhouse gas under dryland cropping systems.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Almaraz JJ, Zhou X, Madramootoo CA, Rochette P, Ma BL, Smith DL (2009) Carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide fluxes in corn grown under two tillage systems in southwestern Quebec. Soil Sci Soc Am J 73(1):113–119. doi:10.2136/sssaj2006.0371
Andruschkewitsch R, Geisseler D, Koch HJ, Ludwig B (2013) Effects of tillage on contents of organic carbon, nitrogen, water-stable aggregates and light fraction for four different long-term trials. Geoderma 192:368–377
Bausenwein U, Gattinger A, Langer U, Embcher A, Hartmann HP, Sommer M, Munch JC, Schloter M (2008) Exploring soil microbial communities and soil organic matter: variability and interactions in arable soils under minimum tillage practice. Appl Soil Ecol 40:67–77
Blanco-Canqui H, Lal R (2007) Impacts of long-term wheat straw management on soil hydraulic properties under no-tillage. Soil Sci Soc Am J 71:1166–1173
Cai L, Wang J, Luo Z, Wu J, Zhang R (2013) Greenhouse gas emissions in double sequence pea–wheat rotation fields under different tillage conditions. Chin J Eco Agric 21(8):921–930. doi:10.3724/SP.J.1011.2013.00921 (in Chinese with English abstract)
Carter (1993) Soil sampling and methods of analysis. Lewis Publisher, London, p 823
Chaplot V, Mchunu C, Manson A, Lorentz S, Jewitt G (2012) Water erosion induced CO2 emissions from tilled and no-tilled soils and sediments. Agric Ecosyst Environ 159:62–69
Chinese Soil Taxonomy Cooperative Research Group (1995) Chinese soil taxonomy (revised proposal). Institute of Soil Science/Chinese Agricultural Science and Technology Press, Academic Sinica/Beijing
FAO (1990) Soil map of the world: revised legend. World Soil Resources Report 60. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome
FAO (2008) Soil carbon sequestration in conservation agriculture—a framework for valuing soil carbon as a critical ecosystem service. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Conservation Technology Information Center, Indiana
Govaerts B, Verhulst N, Castellanos-Navarrete A, Sayre KD, Dixon J, Dendooven L (2009) Conservation agriculture and soil carbon sequestration: between myth and farmer reality. Crit Rev Plant Sci 28(3):97–122. doi:10.1080/07352680902776358
Gregorich EG, Ellert BH (1993) Light fraction and macroorganic matter in mineral soils. In: Carter MR (ed) Soil sampling and methods of analysis. Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, pp 397–407
Gregorich EG, Rochette P, St-Georges P, McKim UF, Chan C (2008) Tillage effects on N2O emissions from soils under corn and soybeans in eastern Canada. Can J Soil Sci 88:153–161
Hermle S, Anken T, Leifeld J, Weisskopf P (2008) The effect of the tillage system on soil organic carbon content under moist, cold-temperate conditions. Soil Till Res 98:94–105
Huang GB, Zhang RZ, Li GD, Li LL, Chan KY, Heenan P, Chen W, Unkovich MJ, Robertson MJ, Cullis BR, Belloti WD (2008) Productivity and sustainability of a spring wheat–field pea rotation in a semi-arid environment under conventional and conservation tillage systems. Field Crops Res 107(1):43–55
Hütsch BW (2001) Methane oxidation in non-flooded soils as affected by crop production—invited paper. Eur J Agron 14:237–260
IPCC (2013) Climate Change 2013. In: Stocker TF, Qin D, Plattner GK, Tignor M, Allen SK, Boschung J, Nauels A, Xia Y, Bex V, Midgley PM (eds) The physical science basis. Contribution of working group I to the fifth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p 1535. doi:10.1017/CBO9781107415324
Jemaia I, Ben Aissab N, Ben Guirata S, Ben-Hammoudac M, Gallalia T (2013) Impact of three and seven years of no-tillage on the soil water storage, in the plant root zone, under a dry subhumid Tunisian climate. Soil Till Res 126:26–33
Ladd JN, Amato M (1989) Relationship between microbial biomass carbon in soils and absorbance of extracts of fumigated soils. Soil Biol Biochem 21:457–459
Lal R (2003) Soil erosion and the global carbon budget. Environ Int 29:437–450
Lemke RL, VandenBygaart AJ, Campbell CA, Lafond GP, Grant B (2010) Crop residue removal and fertilizer N: effects on soil organic carbon in a long-term crop rotation experiment on a Udic Boroll. Agric Ecosyst Environ 135:42–51
Li D, Liu M, Cheng Y, Wang D, Qin J, Jiao J, Li H, Hu F (2011) Methane emissions from double-rice cropping system under conventional and no tillage in southeast China. Soil Till Res 113:77–81
Liu MX, Liu GB, Bu CF (2002) Experimental study on soil infiltration characteristics using disc permeameter. Trans CSAE 18(4):54–58
Liu CY, Wang K, Meng SX, Zheng XH, Zhou ZX, Han SH, Chen DL, Yang ZP (2011) Effects of irrigation fertilization and crop straw management on nitrous oxide and nitric oxide emissions from a wheat–maize rotation field in northern China. Agric Ecosyst Environ 140:226–233
Loecke TD, Robertson GP (2009) Soil resource heterogeneity in terms of litter aggregation promotes nitrous oxide fluxes and slows decomposition. Soil Biol Biochem 41:228–235
McLain JET, Martens DA (2006) Moisture controls on trace gas fluxes in semiarid riparian soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 70:367–377
Mikta MM, Vigil MF, Liebig MA, Bowman RA, McConkey B, Deibert EJ, Pikul JL Jr (2006) Cropping system influences on soil chemical properties and soil quality in the Great Plains. Renew Agric Food Syst 20:26–35
Mosquera-Losada J, Hol JM, Rappoldt C, Dolfing J (2007) Precise soil management as a tool to reduce CH4 and N2O emissions from agricultural soils. Animal Sciences Group Report No. 28. Wageningen, The Netherlands: Wageningen UR. www.wageningenur.nl/en/Publication–details.htm?publicationId=publication–way–333537353433
Muñoz C, Paulino L, Monreal C, Zagal E (2010) Greenhouse Gas (CO2 and N2O) emissions from soil: a review. Chil J Agric Res 70:485–497
Mutegi JK, Munkholm LR, Petersen BM, Hansen EM, Petersen SO (2010) Nitrous oxide emissions and controls as influenced by tillage and crop residue management strategy. Soil Biol Biochem 42:1701–1711
Nelson DW, Sommers LW (1982) Total carbon, organic carbon and organic matter. In: Page, Miller AL, Keeney RH, DR (eds) Methods of soil analysis Part 2. Second edition. Chemical and microbiological properties. American Society of Agronomy and Soil Sci Society of American Journal Madison, Wisconsin USA, pp 301–312
Regina K, Alakukku L (2010) Greenhouse gas fluxes in varying soils types under conventional and no-tillage practices. Soil Till Res 109:144–152
Robertson GP, Paul EA, Harwood RR (2000) Greenhouse gases in intensive agriculture: contributions of individual gases to the radiative forcing of the atmosphere. Science 327(5964):451–454. doi:10.1126/science.1179998
Sanderman J, Farquharson R, Baldock J (2010) Soil carbon sequestration potential: a review for Australian agriculture. Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Australian Government, Canberra
Singh BK, Bardgett RD, Smith P, Reay DS (2010) Microorganisms and climate change: terrestrial feedbacks and mitigation options. Nat Rev Microbiol 8:779–790
Smith P (2007) Greenhouse gas mitigation in agriculture. Climate Change 2007: mitigation contribution of working group III to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. In: Metz B, Davidson O, Bosch P, Dave R, Meyer L (eds), pp 497–540
Stockmann U, Adams MA, Crawford JW, Field DJ, Henakaarchchi N, Kenkins M, Minasny B, McBratney AB, de Courcelles VDR, Singh K, Wheeker I, Abbott L, Angers DA, Baldock J, Bird M, Brookes PC, Chenu C, Jastrow JD, Lal R, Lehmann J, O’Donnell AG, Parton WJ, Whitehead D, Zimmermann M (2013) The knowns, known unknowns and unknowns of sequestration of soil organic carbon. Agric Ecosyst Environ 164:80–99
Trujillo NT, Cruz CM, Vasquez MSM, Cleemput OV, Dendooven L (2008) Inorganic N dynamics and N2O production from tannery effluents irrigated soil under different water regimes and fertilizer application rates, a laboratory study. Appl Soil Ecol 38:279–288
Ussiri DAN, Lal R (2009) Long-term tillage effects on soil carbon storage and carbon dioxide emissions in continuous corn cropping system from an alfisol in Ohio. Soil Till Res 104:39–47
Ussiri DAN, Lal R, Jarecki MK (2009) Nitrous oxide and methane emissions from long-term tillage under a continuous corn cropping system in Ohio. Soil Till Res 104:247–253
Van Groenigen KJ, Hastings A, Forristal D, Roth B, Jones M, Smith P (2011) Soil C storage as affected by tillage and straw management: an assessment using field measurements and model predictions. Agric Ecosyst Environ 140:218–225
Wan YF, Lin ED (2004) The influence of tillage on CH4 and CO2 emission flux in winter fallow cropland. Chin J Agrometeo 3:8–10 (in Chinese with English abstract)
Wan YF, Li YE, Gao QZ (2009) Field managements affect yield, soil carbon, and Greenhouse gases emission of winter wheat in North China Plain. J Agro Environ Sci 28(12):2495–2500 (in Chinese with English abstract)
Wang W, Peng SS, Wang T, Fang JY (2010) Winter soil CO2 efflux and its contribution to annual soil respiration in different ecosystems of a forest-steppe ecotone, North China. Soil Biol Biochem 42:451–458. doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2009.11.028
Wu Z, Huang N, Wallace J, Smoliak B, Chen X (2011) On the time-varying trend in global-mean surface temperature. Clim Dyn 37:759–773. doi:10.1007/s00382-011-1128-8
Yan HM, Cao MK, Liu JY, Tao B (2007) Potential and sustainability for carbon sequestration with improved soil management in agricultural soils of China. Agric Ecosyst Environ 121:325–335
Yanai Y, Toyota K, Okazaki M (2007) Effects of charcoal addition on N2O emissions from soil resulting from rewetting air-dried soil in short-term laboratory experiments. Soil Sci Plant Nutr 53:181–188
Acknowledgments
This research was supported financially by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31160269 and 315159), The “National Twelfth Five–Year Plan” Circular Agricultural Science and Technology Project (2012 BAD14B03) and Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Aridland Crop Science open fund project (GSCS—2013–13). We thank Dr. A.D. Jack McHugh, Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, China, for his warmhearted and careful correction for this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yeboah, S., Zhang, R., Cai, L. et al. Greenhouse gas emissions in a spring wheat–field pea sequence under different tillage practices in semi-arid Northwest China. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 106, 77–91 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-016-9790-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-016-9790-1