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Soil respiration, N2O, and CH4 emissions from an Andisol under conventional-tillage and no-tillage cultivation for 4 years

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Abstract

No-tillage (NT) management is a promising method to sequester soil C and mitigate global warming caused by agricultural activities. Here, we report 4 years of continuous soil respiration rates and weekly nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) emissions in NT and conventional-tillage (CT) plots in a typical Japanese volcanic soil. Overall, the soil respiration, N2O emission, and CH4 uptake decreased significantly in the NT plot. A difference in soil respiration and N2O emission between the two plots began after the tillage treatment and the incorporation of crop residues and fertilizers, whereas the CH4 uptake did not vary significantly during the fallow period after the treatments. The N2O emission was higher from the CT than from the NT plot during the fall. The overall lower CH4 uptake in the NT than in the CT plot likely resulted from a combination of decreased soil gas diffusivity and higher mineral N content at the soil surface. Higher soil respiration and N2O emission occurred in the NT plot in the summer of 2003 and were plausibly caused by an increase in the soil moisture content that resulted from lower temperatures during July and August; the higher soil moisture must have accelerated the decomposition of organic matter accumulated in the topsoil. These results indicate that NT management is generally effective for the mitigation of the total GWP by reducing soil respiration and N2O emission in temperate regions; however, NT management may increase rather than decrease these emissions when fields experience cool summers with frequent rainfall.

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Acknowledgments

This study was principally supported by the project "Elucidation of Vulnerability in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to Global Warming and Development of Mitigation Techniques," which was funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries from 2002 to 2005, and partly supported by a KAKENHI grant (23310017). We thank Mr. T. Suzuki, Mr. T. Ara, Mr. T. Kamata, Mr. I. Iino, Mr. T. Okada, Mr. H. Wakabayashi, Ms. I. Utagawa, and Ms. M. Ootsuji of the NIAES for their assistance with the fieldwork, the closed-chamber measurements, and the gas analyses. We also thank Dr. M. Du of the NIAES for data collection in the field during 2003 when S.Y. was a research fellow in Germany and not present at the NIAES.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, 3-1-3 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8604, Japan

    Seiichiro Yonemura, Isamu Nouchi, Seiichi Nishimura, Gen Sakurai, Kazuki Togami & Kazuyuki Yagi

  2. Association of International Research Initiatives for Environmental Studies, 1-4-4 Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo, 110-0005, Japan

    Isamu Nouchi

  3. NARO Agricultural Research Center, 3-1-1 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8666, Japan

    Seiichi Nishimura

  4. NARO Tohoku Agricultural Research Center, 4 Akahira, Kuriyagawa, Morioka, Iwate, 020-0198, Japan

    Kazuki Togami

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  1. Seiichiro Yonemura
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  2. Isamu Nouchi
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  3. Seiichi Nishimura
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  5. Kazuki Togami
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  6. Kazuyuki Yagi
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Correspondence to Seiichiro Yonemura.

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Yonemura, S., Nouchi, I., Nishimura, S. et al. Soil respiration, N2O, and CH4 emissions from an Andisol under conventional-tillage and no-tillage cultivation for 4 years. Biol Fertil Soils 50, 63–74 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-013-0831-5

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