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Gaseous losses of nitrogen by ammonia volatilization and nitrous oxide emissions from rice paddies with different irrigation management

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Abstract

To reveal the influence of non-flooding controlled irrigation (NFI) on gaseous nitrogen (N) losses in forms of ammonia volatilization (AV) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from high N inputs rice paddies, lysimeter experiments were conducted with flooding irrigation (FI) as check. Compared with FI paddies, AV losses in NFI paddies decreased by 18.5–20.5 % and N2O emissions increased by 1.43–1.9 kg N ha−1. Weekly AV losses immediately after fertilization accounted for over 83 % of seasonal losses in both treatments. High N2O emissions from NFI paddies always occurred in drying process after N application, with peaks observed when water-filled pore space (WFPS) fell in 75–85 %. Water management immediately after N fertilization is crucial for mitigating gaseous N losses from rice paddies. Bringing N into shallow rhizosphere by irrigation and covering it with deep water will be helpful in preventing AV. Maintaining a flooding period and keeping WFPS higher than 85 % in the first drying process after fertilization might be effective to reduce N2O emissions peaks for NFI paddies.

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Acknowledgments

The research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 50809022 and No. 50839002), and by State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering (No. 2010585112).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China

    Jun-Zeng Xu, Shi-Zhang Peng, Yu-Feng Luo & Wei-Guang Wang

  2. College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China

    Jun-Zeng Xu, Hui-Jing Hou, Shi-Hong Yang & Yu-Feng Luo

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  1. Jun-Zeng Xu
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Correspondence to Shi-Zhang Peng.

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Communicated by K. Stone.

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Xu, JZ., Peng, SZ., Hou, HJ. et al. Gaseous losses of nitrogen by ammonia volatilization and nitrous oxide emissions from rice paddies with different irrigation management. Irrig Sci 31, 983–994 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-012-0374-9

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