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Nitrate nitrogen accumulation and leaching pattern at a winter wheat: summer maize cropping field in the North China Plain

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Abstract

Excess application of nitrogen has proved to be one of the detrimental impact factors on soil and groundwater quality in the North China Plain (NCP). A 4-year (from October 2008 to September 2012) field experiment was carried out to investigate the impact of N application rate on NO3–N dynamics in soils, its leaching pattern, and movement in deep soils under different nitrogen (N) application rates in a sprinkler irrigated winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)- summer maize (Zea mays L.) field in the NCP. The N application rates were 0, 110, 220, and 330 kg N ha−1 per wheat or maize planting season, referred to as CK, N1, N2, and N3 treatments, respectively. The results indicate that in winter wheat season, the applied water and fertilizer N mostly accumulated in the 0–60 cm soil layer and NO3–N leaching out of the root zone (0–100 cm) was negligible under the sprinkler irrigation scheduling, while water and NO3–N leached out of the root zone during summer maize season mainly due to high rainfall event. A relatively constant NO3–N concentration in soil profile was maintained and NO3–N leaching was negligible when N application rate was 110 kg N ha−1 per crop season. While about 70 % of the applied N accumulated in 0–500 cm soil layer and about 50 % of the applied N leached out of the root zone when N application rate lager than 110 kg N ha−1 per crop season, and the NO3–N downward movement was observed to the depth of 300 cm at the end of the 4-year experiment with an average migration rate of about 50 cm year−1. Considering the potential risk of groundwater pollution, an N application rate of 110 kg ha−1 per crop season was recommend for winter wheat and summer maize under the conditions of sprinkler irrigation in the NCP and those areas with similar conditions.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant numbers: 51179005, 51479004, 51125036). The authors gratefully acknowledge the staff of the Tongzhou experimental base for their support during our field experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100083, China

    Yan Li

  2. College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

    Haijun Liu, Ruihao Zhang & Huiying Yang

  3. Chinese-Israeli International Center for Research and Training in Agriculture, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100083, China

    Yan Li & Guanhua Huang

Authors
  1. Yan Li
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  2. Haijun Liu
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  3. Guanhua Huang
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  4. Ruihao Zhang
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  5. Huiying Yang
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Correspondence to Haijun Liu or Guanhua Huang.

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Li, Y., Liu, H., Huang, G. et al. Nitrate nitrogen accumulation and leaching pattern at a winter wheat: summer maize cropping field in the North China Plain. Environ Earth Sci 75, 118 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4867-8

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