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Dissolved N and C leaching losses mitigated by optimized fertilization management in intensive greenhouse system: insights from DOM characteristics via EEM-PARAFAC

  • Soils, Sec 2 • Global Change, Environ Risk Assess, Sustainable Land Use • Research Article
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Abstract

Purpose

Leaching of dissolved nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) have been recognized as a potential threat to receiving water quality. However, there are few studies reporting these losses especially in organic forms from vegetable production system, and the drivers and regulatory mechanisms are far from clear.

Materials and methods

An in situ lysimeter study was conducted to quantify the leaching of dissolved organic N (DON) and C (DOC) and inorganic N and C under conventional practice (Ncon) and optimized N strategies with nitrification inhibitor (Nopt-NI), manure (Nopt-M), or Bacillus-inoculated manure (Nopt-M-B).

Results and discussion

The amount of total dissolved N (TDN) leaching achieved a significant decrease of 29.2% in Nopt-NI compared with Ncon mainly due to the reduction in NO3 leaching. DON accounted for 9.6–17.9% of TDN leaching and was reduced by 53.1% in Nopt-NI vs. Ncon. Under NI addition, the increased soil NH4+ supply reduced the recalcitrant dissolved organic matter (DOM) production and consequently lowered DON leaching. For Nopt-M and Nopt-M-B, only NH4+ leaching was significantly decreased possibly due to enhanced microbial immobilization, verified by negative correlation between NH4+ leaching and microbial-derived DOM component. The amount of DOC leaching was largest in Nopt-M due to increased DOM components with greater recalcitrance that were more prone to be leached. However, Nopt-M-B decreased DOC leaching to a similar level of Ncon.

Conclusions

Our results highlight that Nopt-NI could mitigate N leaching by inhibiting both nitrification and DON release, while Bacillus inoculation could mitigate NH4+ leaching and avoid manure-induced increase in DOC losses.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFD0800405), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41807047), Jiangsu Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Fund (CX(18)1005, CX(21)3098), and Youth Talent Project of Science and Technology Association of Jiangsu Province, China ((2020)0243).

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Xu, Y., Liu, X., Jing, Y. et al. Dissolved N and C leaching losses mitigated by optimized fertilization management in intensive greenhouse system: insights from DOM characteristics via EEM-PARAFAC. J Soils Sediments 23, 657–671 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-022-03354-1

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