Abstract
Vegetable production area is growing rapidly world-wide, yet information on nitrogen (N) losses, greenhouse gas emissions, and input efficiency is lacking. Sustainable intensification of these systems requires improved understanding of how to optimize nutrient and water inputs for improved yields while minimizing N losses. In this study, a 3-year vegetable crop rotation spanning an intensification gradient is investigated in Kentucky, USA: (1) a low input organic (LI), (2) high tunnel organic (HT), and (3) conventional (CONV) system. The objectives were to (1) characterize soil mineral N pools and NO3−–N leaching, (2) quantify CO2 and N2O fluxes, and (3) relate crop yield to global warming potential (GWP) caused by CO2 and N2O losses in these three vegetable production systems. HT maintained consistently higher soil NO3−–N; the average NO3−–N content during the entire rotations in HT was twice as high as in the CONV and three times as high as in the LI system. Key N loss pathways varied between the systems; marked N2O and CO2 losses were observed in the LI and NO3− leaching was greatest in the CONV system. The 3-year cumulative CO2 emission in LI was 50% higher than in the CONV and HT systems. Cumulative N2O emission over the 3-year vegetable rotations from the LI was twice as high as in the CONV system, whereas 60% more N2O was produced from the HT than from the CONV system. Yield-scaled GWP was greater in the LI for all crops compared to HT and CONV systems.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allaire-Leung SE, Wu L, Mitchell JP, Sanden BL (2001) Nitrate leaching and soil nitrate content as affected by irrigation uniformity in a carrot field. Agric Water Manag 48:37–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-3774(00)00112-8
Binkley D, Matson P (1983) Ion-exchange resin bag method for assessing forest soil-nitrogen availability. Soil Sci Soc Am J 47(5):1050–1052. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1983.03615995004700050045x
Case SDC, McNamara NP, Reay DS, Whitaker J (2012) The effect of biochar addition on N2O and CO2 emissions from a sandy loam soil—the role of soil aeration. Soil Biol Biochem 51:125–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2012.03.017
Chen H, Li X, Hu F, Shi W (2013) Soil nitrous oxide emissions following crop residue addition: a meta-analysis. Glob Change Biol 19:2956–2964. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12274
Chen J, Kim H, Yoo G (2015) Effects of biochar addition on CO2 and N2O emissions following fertilizer application to a cultivated grassland soil. PLoS ONE 10:e0126841. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0126841
Crutchfield JD, Grove JH (2011) A new cadmium reduction device for the microplate determination of nitrate in water, soil, plant tissue, and physiological fluids. J AOAC Int 94:1896–1905
Cui Z, Yue S, Wang G, Zhang F, Chen X (2013) In-season root-zone N management for mitigating greenhouse gas emission and reactive N losses in intensive wheat production. Environ Sci Technol 47:6015–6022. https://doi.org/10.1021/es4003026
de Ponti T, Rijk B, van Ittersum MK (2012) The crop yield gap between organic and conventional agriculture. Agric Syst 108:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2011.12.004
Deng J, Zhou Z, Zheng X, Li C (2013) Modeling impacts of fertilization alternatives on nitrous oxide and nitric oxide emissions from conventional vegetable fields in southeastern China. Atmos Environ 81:642–650. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.09.046
Deng Q, Hui D, Wang J, Iwuozo S, Yu CL, Jima T, Smart D, Reddy C, Dennis S (2015) Corn yield and soil nitrous oxide emission under different fertilizer and soil management: a three-year field experiment in middle Tennessee. PLoS ONE 10:e0125406. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0125406
Eichner MJ (1990) Nitrous oxide emissions from fertilized soils: summary of available data. J Environ Qual 19:272–280. https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq1990.00472425001900020013x
Eriksen J, Jensen LS (2001) Soil respiration, nitrogen mineralization and uptake in barley following cultivation of grazed grasslands. Biol Fert Soils 33:139–145. https://doi.org/10.1007/s003740000302
Errebhi M, Rosen CJ, Gupta SC, Birong DE (1998) Potato yield response and nitrate leaching as influenced by nitrogen management. Agric J 90:10–15. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj1998.00021962009000010003x
FAO (2011) The state of the world’s land and water resources for food and agriculture (SOLAW)—managing systems at risk. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome and Earthscan, London. http://www.fao.org/docrep/015/i1688e/i1688e00.pdf. Accessed 23 April 2018
FAOSTAT (2018) Crops data. United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC/visualize. Accessed 12 April 2018
Foley JA, Ramankutty N, Brauman KA, Cassidy ES, Gerber JS, Johnston M (2011) Solutions for a cultivated planet. Nature 478:337–342. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10452
Garbach K, Milder JC, DeClerck FAJ, Montenegro de Wit M, Driscoll L, Gemmill-Herren B (2016) Examining multi-functionality for crop yield and ecosystem services in five systems of agroecological intensification. Int J Agric Sustain 15:11–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2016.1174810
Gliessman SR (2007) Agroecology: the ecology of sustainable food systems, 2nd edn. CRC Press, Boca Raton
Goulding K (2000) Nitrate leaching from arable and horticultural land. Soil Use Manage 16:145–151. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-2743.2000.tb00218.x
Grassini P, Cassman KG (2012) High-yield maize with large net energy yield and small global warming intensity. Proc Natl Acad Sci 109:1074–1079. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1116364109
Hanselman TA, Graetz DA, Obreza TA (2004) A comparison of in situ methods for measuring net nitrogen mineralization rates of organic soil amendments. J Environ Qual 33:1098–1105
He ZL, Alva AK, Yan P, Li YC, Calvert DV, Stoffella PJ, Banks DJ (2000) Nitrogen mineralization and transformation from composts and biosolids during field incubation in a sandy soil. Soil Sci 165:161–169. https://doi.org/10.1097/00010694-200002000-00007
IPCC (2001) Climate change 2001: the scientific basis. In: Houghton JT, Ding Y, Griggs DJ, Noguer M, van der Linden PJ, Dai X, Maskell K, Johnson CA (eds) Contributions of working Group I to the third assessment of the intergovernmental panel on climate change, Cambridge, p 881
Iqbal J, Nelson JA, McCulley RL (2013) Fungal endophyte presence and genotype affect plant diversity and soil-to-atmosphere trace gas fluxes. Plant Soil 364:15–27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-012-1326-0
Jamali H, Quayle W, Scheer C, Baldock J (2016) Mitigation of N2O emissions from surface-irrigated cropping systems using water management and the nitrification inhibitor DMPP. Soil Res 54:481–493. https://doi.org/10.1071/SR15315
Johnson DW, Verburg PSJ, Arnone JA (2005) Soil extraction, ion exchange resin, and ion exchange membrane measures of soil mineral nitrogen during incubation of a tallgrass prairie soil. Soil Sci Soc Am J 9:260–265. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2005.0260
Ju XT, Kou CL, Christie P, Dou ZX, Zhang FS (2007) Changes in the soil environment from excessive application of fertilizers and manures to two contrasting intensive cropping systems on the North China Plain. Environ Pollut 145:497–506. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2006.04.017
Kolberg RL, Westfall DG, Peterson GA (1999) Influence of cropping intensity and nitrogen fertilizer rates on in situ nitrogen mineralization. Soil Sci Soc Am J 63(1):129–134. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1999.03615995006300010019x
Kramer SB, Reganold JP, Glover JD, Bohannan BLM, Mooney HA (2006) Reduced nitrate leaching and enhanced denitrifier activity and efficiency in organically fertilized soils. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103:4522–4527. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0600359103
Kravchenko AN, Toosi ER, Guber AK, Ostrom NE, Yu J, Azeem K, Rivers ML, Robertson GP (2017) Hotspots of soil N2O emission enhanced through water absorption by plant residue. Nat Geosci 10:496–500. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2963
Lamont WJ (2009) Overview of the use of high tunnels worldwide. HortTechnology 19:25–29
Matson PA, Parton WJ, Power AG, Swift MJ (1997) Agricultural intensification and ecosystem properties. Science 277:504–509. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.277.5325.504
Monterroso VA, Wien HC (1990) Flower and pod abscission due to heat stress in beans. J Am Soc Hortic Sci 115:631–634
Mueller ND, Gerber JS, Johnston M, Ray DK, Ramankutty N, Foley JA (2012) Closing yield gaps through nutrient and water management. Nature 490:254. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11420
National Agriculture Statistics Service (2011) Agricultural chemical use: vegetable crops 2010. US Department of Agriculture. https://www.nass.usda.gov/Surveys/Guide_to_NASS_Surveys/Chemical_Use/VegetableChemicalUseFactSheet.pdf. Accessed 11 Sept 2017
National Agriculture Statistics Service (2014) Census of horticultural specialties. US Department of Agriculture. https://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/Online_Resources/Census_of_Horticulture_Specialties/HORTIC.pdf. Accessed 19 Oct 2017
Nelson DW, Sommers LE (1982) Total carbon, organic carbon and organic matter: In: Page AL, Miller RH, Keeney DR (eds) Methods of soil analysis. Part 2 chemical and microbiological properties, pp 539–579
Norris CE, Congreves KA (2018) Alternative management practices improve soil health indices in intensive vegetable cropping systems: a review. Front Environ Sci 6:1–18. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2018.00050
Parkin TB, Venterea RT (2010) Chapter 3: chamber-based trace gas flux measurements. In: Follett R (ed) USDA-ARS sampling protocols, pp 3–39. https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/np212/Chapter%203.%20GRACEnet%20Trace%20Gas%20Sampling%20Protocols.pdf
Pinto M, Merino P, del Prado A, Estavillo JM, Yamulki S, Gebauer G (2004) Increased emissions of nitric oxide and nitrous oxide following tillage of a perennial pasture. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 70:13–22. https://doi.org/10.1023/b:fres.0000049357.79307.23
Ponisio LC, M’Gonigle LK, Mace KC, Palomino J, de Valpine P, Kremen C (2015) Diversification practices reduce organic to conventional yield gap. Proc R Soc B 282:1–7. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.1396
Powell M, Gundersen B, Cowan J, Miles CA, Inglis DA (2014) The effect of open-ended high tunnels in western Washington on late blight and physiological leaf roll among five tomato cultivars. Plant Disease 98:1639–1647. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-12-13-1261-RE
Pradhan P, Fischer G, van Velthuizen H, Reusser DE, Kropp JP (2015) Closing yield gaps: how sustainable can we be? PLoS ONE 10:e0129487. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0129487
Pretty JN (2008) Agricultural sustainability: concepts, principles and evidence. Philos Trans R Soc B 363:447–465. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2007.2163
Pretty JN (1997) The sustainable intensification of agriculture. Nat Resour Forum 21:247–256. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-8947.1997.tb00699.x
Raich JW, Schlesinger WH (1992) The global carbon dioxide flux in soil respiration and its relationship to vegetation and climate. Tellus B 44:81–99. https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0889.1992.t01-1-00001.x
Rhoades JD (1996) Salinity: Electrical conductivity and total dissolved solids. In: Sparks DL, Page AL, Helmke PA, Loeppert RH, Soltanpour PN, Tabatabai MA, Johnston CT, Sumner ME (eds) Methods of soil analysis Part 3. Soil Science Society of America and American Society of Agronomy, Madison, pp 417–435
Rice CW, Smith MS (1984) Short-term immobilization of fertilizer nitrogen at the surface of no-till and plowed soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 48:295–297
Sanchez-Martin L, Meijide A, Garcia-Torres L, Vallejo A (2010) Combination of drip irrigation and organic fertilizer for mitigating emissions of nitrogen oxides in semiarid climate. Agric Ecosyst Environ 137:99–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2010.01.006
Schellenberg DL, Alsina MM, Muhammad S, Stockert CM, Wolff MW, Sanden BL (2012) Yield-scaled global warming potential from N2O emissions and CH4 oxidation for almond (Prunus dulcis) irrigated with nitrogen fertilizers on arid land. Agric Ecosyst Environ 155:7–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2012.03.008
Schramski JR, Jacobsen KL, Smith TW, Williams MA, Thompson TM (2013) Energy as a potential systems-level indicator of sustainability in organic agriculture: case study model of a diversified, organic vegetable production system. Ecol Modell 267:102–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2013.07.022
Seufert VN, Ramankutty N, Foley JA (2012) Comparing the yields of organic and conventional agriculture. Nature 485:229–232. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11069
Shrestha D, Srivastava A, Shakya SM, Khadka J, Acharya BS (2013) Use of compost supplemented human urine in sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) production. Sci Hortic 153:8–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2013.01.022
Stefanelli D, Goodwin I, Jones R (2010) Minimal nitrogen and water use in horticulture: effects on quality and content of selected nutrients. Food Res Int 43:1833–1843. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2010.04.022
Susfalk RB, Johnson DW (2002) Ion exchange resin based soil solution lysimeters and snowmelt solution collectors. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 33:1261–1275. https://doi.org/10.1081/CSS-120003886
Thomas SM, Beare MH, Francis GS, Barlow HE, Hedderley DI (2008) Effects of tillage, simulated cattle grazing and soil moisture on N2O emissions from a winter forage crop. Plant Soil 309:131–145. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-008-9586-4
Thompson RB, Martínez-Gaitan C, Gallardo M, Giménez C, Fernández MD (2007) Identification of irrigation and N management practices that contribute to nitrate leaching loss from an intensive vegetable production system by use of a comprehensive survey. Agric Water Manag 89:261–274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2007.01.013
Tilman D, Balzer C, Hill J, Befort BL (2011) Global food demand and the sustainable intensification of agriculture. Proc Natl Acad Sci 108:20260–20264. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1116437108
UK Cooperative Extension Service (2014) ID-36 vegetable production guide for commercial growers. University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment Cooperative Extension Service. http://www2.ca.uky.edu/agcomm/pubs/id/id36/id36.pdf. Accessed 14 Sept 2017
van Genuchten MTh (1980) A closed-form equation for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 36:380–383
van Genuchten M, Leij FJ, Yates SR (1991) The RETC code for quantifying the hydraulic functions of unsaturated soils, Version 1.0. EPA Report 600/2-91/065. https://www.pc-progress.com/Documents/programs/retc.pdf. Accessed 12 Sept 2017
Venterea RT, Maharjan B, Dolan MS (2011) Fertilizer source and tillage effects on yield-scaled nitrous oxide emissions in a corn cropping system. J Environ Qual 40:1521–1531. https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2011.0039
Wezel A, Soboksa G, McClelland S, Delespesse F, Boissau A (2015) The blurred boundaries of ecological, sustainable, and agroecological intensification: a review. Agron Sustain Dev 35:1283–1295. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-015-0333-y
Xu X, Ran Y, Li Y, Zhang Q, Liu Y, Pan H, Guan X, Li J, Shi J, Dong L, Li Z, Di H, Xu J (2016) Warmer and drier conditions alter the nitrifier and denitrifier communities and reduce N2O emissions in fertilized vegetable soils. Agric Ecosyst Environ 231:133–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2016.06.026
Zhu JH, Li XL, Christie P, Li JL (2005) Environmental implications of low nitrogen use efficiency in excessively fertilized hot pepper (Capsicum frutescens L.) cropping systems. Agric Ecosyst Environ 111:70–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2005.04.025
Zikeli S, Deil L, Moller K (2017) The challenge of imbalanced nutrient flows in organic farming systems: a study of organic greenhouses in southern Germany. Agric Ecosyst Environ 244:1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2017.04.017
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (No. 2013-67019-21403). The authors thank Elmwood Stock Farm, the University of Kentucky Horticulture Research Farm staff, Dr. Alexandra Williams, Jennifer Taylor, Brett Wolff, Ann Freytag, and Riley Walton for laboratory and field assistance on this project, as well as the input from anonymous reviewers that greatly strengthened the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shrestha, D., Wendroth, O. & Jacobsen, K.L. Nitrogen loss and greenhouse gas flux across an intensification gradient in diversified vegetable rotations. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 114, 193–210 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-019-10001-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-019-10001-8