Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Role of maize stover incorporation on nitrogen oxide emissions in a non-irrigated Mediterranean barley field

  • Regular Article
  • Published:
Plant and Soil Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Aims

Agricultural soils in semiarid Mediterranean areas are characterized by low organic matter contents and low fertility levels. Application of crop residues and/or manures as amendments is a cost-effective and sustainable alternative to overcome this problem. However, these management practices may induce important changes in the nitrogen oxide emissions from these agroecosystems, with additional impacts on carbon dioxide emissions. In this context, a field experiment was carried out with a barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) crop under Mediterranean conditions to evaluate the effect of combining maize (Zea mays L.) residues and N fertilizer inputs (organic and/or mineral) on these emissions.

Methods

Crop yield and N uptake, soil mineral N concentrations, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), denitrification capacity, N2O, NO and CO2 fluxes were measured during the growing season.

Results

The incorporation of maize stover increased N2O emissions during the experimental period by c. 105 %. Conversely, NO emissions were significantly reduced in the plots amended with crop residues. The partial substitution of urea by pig slurry reduced net N2O emissions by 46 and 39 %, with and without the incorporation of crop residues respectively. Net emissions of NO were reduced 38 and 17 % for the same treatments. Molar DOC:NO −3 ratio was found to be a robust predictor of N2O and NO fluxes.

Conclusions

The main effect of the interaction between crop residue and N fertilizer application occurred in the medium term (4–6 month after application), enhancing N2O emissions and decreasing NO emissions as consequence of residue incorporation. The substitution of urea by pig slurry can be considered a good management strategy since N2O and NO emissions were reduced by the use of the organic residue.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alexander M (1977) Mineralization and immobilization of nitrogen. In: Alexander M (ed) Introduction to soil microbiology, 2nd edn. Wiley, New York, pp 136–247

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson IC, Levine JS (1986) Relatives rates of nitric oxide and nitrous oxide production by nitrifiers, denitrifiers and nitrate respires. Appl Environ Microbiol 51:938–945

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • AOAC (2000) Association of official analytical chemists, official methods of analysis (17th edn), Washington, DC

  • Aulakh MS, Doran JW, Walters DT, Mosier AR, Francis DD (1991) Crop residue type and placement effects on denitrification and mineralization. Soil Sci Soc Am J 55:1020–1025

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baggs EM, Rees RM, Smith KA, Vinten AJA (2000) Nitrous oxide emission from soils after incorporating crop residues. Soil Use Manag 16:82–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bellarby J, Foereid B, Hastings A, Smith P (2008) Cool farming: climate impacts of agriculture and mitigation potential. Greenpeace International, Amsterdam, 44 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Bouwman AF, Boumans LJM, Batjes NH (2002) Modeling global annual N2O and NO emissions from fertilized fields. Global Biogeochem Cycles 16: art.no.1080 doi:10.1029/2001GB001812

  • Cayuela ML, Sinicco T, Mondini C (2009) Mineralization dynamics and biochemical properties during initial decomposition of plant and animal residues in soil. Appl Soil Ecol 41:118–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chadwick DR, Pain BF, Brookman SKE (2000) Nitrous oxide and methane emissions following application of animal manures to grassland. J Environ Qual 29:277–287

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Clayton H, Arah JRM, Smith KA (1994) Measurement of nitrous oxide emissions from fertilized grassland using closed chambers. J Geophys Res 99:16599–16607

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Constantinides M, Fownes JH (1994) Tissue to solvent ratio and other factors affecting determination of soluble polyphenols in tropical leaves. Commun Soil Sci Plant 25:3221–3227

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Danielson RE, Sutherland PL (1986) Porosity. In: Klute A (ed) Methods of soil analysis. Physical and mineralogical methods. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, pp 443–460

    Google Scholar 

  • Das SK, Subba Reddy G, Sharma KL, Vittal KPR, Venkateswarlu B, Reddy MN, Reddy YVR (1993) Prediction of nitrogen availability in soil after crop residue incorporation. Fertil Res 34:209–215

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dittert K, Lampe C, Gasche R, Butterbach-Bahl K, Wachendorf M, Papen H, Sattelmacher B, Taube F (2005) Short-term effects of single or combined application of mineral N fertilizer and cattle slurry on the fluxes of radiatively active trace gases from grassland soil. Soil Biol Biochem 37:1665–1674

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Drury CF, McKenney DJ, Findlay WI (1991) Relationships between denitrification, microbial biomass and indigenous soil properties. Soil Biol Biochem 23:751–755

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flessa H, Beese F (1995) Effect of sugarbeet residues on soil redox potential and nitrous oxide emission. Soil Sci Soc Am J 59:1044–1051

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Frimpong KA, Baggs EM (2010) Do combined applications of crop residues and inorganic fertilizer lower emission of N2O from soil? Soil Use Manag 26:412–424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia-Gil JC, Plaza C, Soler-Rovira P, Polo A (2000) Long-term effects of municipal solid waste compost application on soil enzyme activities and microbial biomass. Soil Biol Biochem 32:1907–1913

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia-Ruiz R, Baggs EM (2007) N2O emission from soil following combined application of fertiliser-N and ground weed residues. Plant Soil 299:263–274

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gentile R, Vanlauwe B, Chivenge P, Six J (2008) Interactive effects from combining fertilizer and organic residue inputs on nitrogen transformations. Soil Biol Biochem 40:2375–2384

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hadas A, Kautsky L, GoekM Kara EE (2004) Rates of decomposition of plant residues and available nitrogen in soil, related to residue composition through simulation of carbon and nitrogen turnover. Soil Biol Biochem 36:255–266

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Heal OW, Anderson JM, Swift MJ (1997) Plant litter quality and decomposition: an historical overview. In: Cadisch G, Giller KE (eds) Driven by nature: plant litter quality and decomposition. CAB International, Wallingford, pp 3–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang Y, Zou JW, Zheng XH, Wang YS, Xu XK (2004) Nitrous oxide emissions as influenced by amendment of plant residues with different C:N ratios. Soil Biol Biochem 36:973–981

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (2007) Climate change. In: Synthesis report of the fourth assessment report of IPCC, chapter 3, pp 49

  • Lampurlanés J, Cantero-Martínez C (2006) Hydraulic conductivity, residue cover and soil surface roughness under different tillage systems in semiarid conditions. Soil Tillage Res 85:13–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu C, Wang K, Meng S, Zheng X, Zhou Z, Han S, Chen D, Yang Z (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

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Malhi SS, Grant CA, Johnston AM, Gill KS (2001) Nitrogen fertilization management for no-till cereal production in the Canadian Great Plains: a review. Soil Tillage Res 60:101–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malhi SS, Nyborg M, Solberg ED, McConkey B, Dyck M, Puurveen D (2011) Long-term straw management and N fertilizer rate effects on quantity and quality of organic C and N and some chemical properties in two contrasting soils in Western Canada. Biol Fertil Soils 47:785–800

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meade G, Lalor STJ, McCabe T (2011) An evaluation of the combined usage of separated liquid pig manure and inorganic fertiliser in nutrient programmes for winter wheat production. Eur J Agron 34:62–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meijide A, Díez JA, Sanchez-Martin L, López-Fernández S, Vallejo A (2007) Nitrogen oxide emissions from an irrigated maize crop amended with treated pig slurries and composts in a Mediterranean climate. Agric Ecosyst Environ 121:383–394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merino A, Pérez-Batallon P, Macias F (2004) Responses of soil organic matter and greenhouse gas fluxes to soil management and land use changes in a humid temperate region of southern Europe. Soil Biol Biochem 36:917–925

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mertens DR (2002) Gravimetric determination of amylase-treated neutral detergent fibre in feeds with refluxing beakers or crucibles: collaborative study. J Assoc Off Anal Chem Int 85:1217–1240

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mulvaney RL, Khan SA, Mulvaney CS (1997) Nitrogen fertilizers promote denitrification. Biol Fertil Soils 24:211–220

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • OECD (2000) Environmental indicators for agriculture, methods and results, executive summary 2000, Paris, France. http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/0/9/1916629.pdf

  • Palm CA, Rowland AP (1997) A minimum dataset for characterization of plant quality for decomposition. In: Cadisch G, Giller KE (eds) Driven by nature: plant litter quality and decomposition. CAB International, Wallingford, pp 379–392

    Google Scholar 

  • Ravishankara AR, Daniel JS, Portmann RW (2009) Nitrous oxide (N2O): the dominant ozone-depleting substance emitted in the 21st century. Science 326:123–125

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sanchez-Martín L, Vallejo A, Dick J, Skiba UM (2008) The influence of soluble carbon and fertilizer nitrogen on nitric oxide and nitrous oxide emissions from two contrasting agricultural soils. Soil Biol Biochem 40:142–151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanchez-Martin L, Dick JL, Bocary K, Vallejo A, Skiba UM (2010a) Residual effect of organic carbon as a tool for mitigating nitrogen oxides emissions in semi-arid climate. Plant Soil 326:137–145

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sanchez-Martin L, Sanz-Cobena A, Meijide A, Quemada M, Vallejo A (2010b) The importance of the fallow period for N2O and CH4 fluxes and nitrate leaching in a Mediterranean irrigated agroecosystems. Eur J Soil Sci 61:710–720

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sanz-Cobena A, Sánchez-Martín L, García-Torres L, Vallejo A (2012) Gaseous emissions of N2O and NO and NO −3 leaching from urea applied with urease and nitrification inhibitors to a maize (Zea mays) crop. Agric Ecosyst Environ 149:64–73

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sarkodie-Addo J, Lee HC, Baggs EM (2003) Nitrous oxide emissions after application of inorganic fertilizer and incorporation of green manure residues. Soil Use Manag 19:331–339

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skiba U, Ball B (2002) The effect of soil texture and soil drainage on emissions of nitric oxide and nitrous oxide. Soil Use Manag 18:56–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith KA, Conen F (2004) Impacts of land management on fluxes of trace greenhouse gases. Soil Use Manag 20:255–263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder CS, Bruulsema TW, Jensen TL, Fixen PE (2009) Review of greenhouse gas emissions from crop production systems and fertilizer management effects. Agric Ecosyst Environ 133:247–266

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Soil Survey Staff (1992) Keys to soil taxonomy, 6th edn. USDA, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Staffelbach T, Neftel A, Horowitz LW (1997) Photochemical oxidant formation over southern Switzerland: 2 model results. J Geophys Res 102:23363–23373

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor PG, Townsend AR (2010) Stoichiometric control of organic carbon–nitrate relationships from soils to the sea. Nature 464:1178–1181

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vallejo A, Skiba U, García-Torres L, Arce A, López-Fernández S, Sánchez-Martín L (2006) Nitrogen oxides emission from soils bearing a potato crop as influenced by fertilization with treated pig slurries and composts. Soil Biol Biochem 38:2782–2793

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • van Groenigen JW, Velthof GL, Oenema O, Van Groenigen KJ, Van Kessel C (2010) Towards an agronomic assessment of N2O emissions: a case study for arable crops. Eur J Soil Sci 61:903–913

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vanlauwe B, Wendt J, Diels J (2001) Combined application of organic matter and fertilizer. In: Tian G, Ishida F, Keatinge JDH (eds) Sustaining soil fertility in West Africa. Soil Science Society of America and American Society of Agronomy, Madison, pp 247–279

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamulki S, Jarvis S (2002) Short-term effects of tillage and compaction on nitrous oxide, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, methane and carbon dioxide fluxes from grassland. Biol Fertil Soils 36:224–231

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yamulki S, Goulding KWT, Webster CP, Harrison RM (1995) Studies on NO and N2O fluxes from a wheat field. Atmos Environ 29:1627–1635

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yao Z, Zhou Z, Zheng X, Xie B, Mei B, Wang R, Butterbach-Bahl K, Zhu J, Yin R (2009) Tillage and crop residue management significantly affects N-trace gas emissions during the non-rice season of a subtropical rice-wheat rotation. Soil Biol Biochem 41:2131–2140

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yeomans JC, Bremner JM, McCarty GW (1992) Denitrification capacity and denitrification potential of subsurface soils. Commun Soil Sci Plant 23:919–927

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the Autonomous Community of Madrid for their economic support through Projects AGL2009-08412-AGR and the Agrisost Project (S2009/AGR-1630), respectively. Jan Willem van Groenigen is supported by a personal VIDI grant from the Netherlands Organization of Scientific Research/Earth and Life Sciences (NWO-ALW). This study would not have been possible without technical assistance from the technicians and researchers at the Department of Chemistry and Agricultural Analysis of the Agronomy Faculty (Technical University of Madrid, UPM). Special thanks to Simon Jeffery for his critical comments on a previous version of the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ETSIAgrónomos, Technical University of Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    Diego Abalos, Alberto Sanz-Cobena, Lourdes Garcia-Torres & Antonio Vallejo

  2. Department of Soil Quality, Wageningen University, PO Box 47, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Jan Willem van Groenigen

Authors
  1. Diego Abalos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alberto Sanz-Cobena
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lourdes Garcia-Torres
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jan Willem van Groenigen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Antonio Vallejo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Diego Abalos.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Per Ambus.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Abalos, D., Sanz-Cobena, A., Garcia-Torres, L. et al. Role of maize stover incorporation on nitrogen oxide emissions in a non-irrigated Mediterranean barley field. Plant Soil 364, 357–371 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-012-1367-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-012-1367-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation