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Nitrogen migration and transformation in a saline-alkali paddy ecosystem with application of different nitrogen fertilizers

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Abstract

With the increasing transformation of saline-alkali land into paddy, the nitrogen (N) loss in saline-alkali paddy fields becomes an urgent agricultural-environmental problem. However, N migration and transformation following the application of different N fertilizers in saline-alkali paddy fields remains unclear. In this study, four types of N fertilizers were tested to explore the N migration and transformation among water-soil-gas-plant media in saline-alkali paddy ecosystems. Based on the structural equation models, N fertilizer types can change the effects of electrical conductivity (EC), pH, and ammonia-N (NH4+-N) of surface water and/or soil on ammonia (NH3) volatilization and nitrous oxide (N2O) emission. Compared with urea (U), the application of urea with urease-nitrification inhibitors (UI) can reduce the potential risk of NH4+-N and nitrate–N (NO3−-N) loss via runoff, and significantly (p < 0.05) reduce the N2O emission. However, the expected effectiveness of UI on NH3 volatilization control and total N (TN) uptake capacity of rice was not achieved. For organic–inorganic compound fertilizer (OCF) and carbon-based slow-release fertilizer (CSF), the average TN concentrations in surface water at panicle initiation fertilizer (PIF) stage were reduced by 45.97% and 38.63%, respectively, and the TN contents in aboveground crops were increased by 15.62% and 23.91%. The cumulative N2O emissions by the end of the entire rice-growing season were also decreased by 103.62% and 36.69%, respectively. Overall, both OCF and CSF are beneficial for controlling N2O emission and the potential risks of N loss via runoff caused by surface water discharge, and improving the TN uptake capacity of rice in saline-alkali paddy fields.

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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This study was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA28040102), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. U21A2037), the CAS Interdisciplinary Innovation Team Project (No. JCTD-2020–14), and the Youth Innovation Promotion Association, CAS (No. Y2021068).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, 130102, China

    Xinyi Wang, Mingming Wang, Baixing Yan, Fuman Zhang, Jiao Lyu & Hui Zhu

  2. College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Xinyi Wang

  3. Jilin Provincial Engineering Center of CWs Design in Cold Region & Beautiful Country Construction, Changchun, 130102, China

    Xinyi Wang, Baixing Yan, Fuman Zhang, Jiao Lyu & Hui Zhu

  4. Da’an Sodic Land Experiment Station, Da’an, Jilin, 131300, China

    Mingming Wang

  5. State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

    Lei Chen

  6. Department of Natural Sciences, Middlesex University, Hendon, London, NW4 4BT, UK

    Brian Shutes

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  1. Xinyi Wang
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Contributions

XW carried out all experiments and drafted the manuscript. MW, LC, BS, and BY provided technical and theoretical support. FZ and JL executed the experiments, analyzed all data, and produced figures. HZ (corresponding author) was responsible for this study, participated its design, and helped to draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hui Zhu.

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Wang, X., Wang, M., Chen, L. et al. Nitrogen migration and transformation in a saline-alkali paddy ecosystem with application of different nitrogen fertilizers. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 51665–51678 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-25984-9

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