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Nitrogen and carbon isotope responses of Chinese cabbage and chrysanthemum to the application of liquid pig manure

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Abstract

The effects of the liquid pig manure (LM) used in organic farming on the natural abundance of 15N and 13C signatures in plant tissues have not been studied. We hypothesized that application of LM will (1) increase δ15N of plant tissues due to the high δ15N of N in LM as compared with soil N or inorganic fertilizer N, and (2) increase δ13C of plant tissues as a result of high salt concentration in LM that decreases stomatal conductance of plants. To test these hypotheses, variations in the δ15N and δ13C of Chinese cabbage (Brassica campestris L.) and chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramatuelle) with two different LMs (with δ15N of +15.6 and +18.2‰) applied at two rates (323 and 646 kg N ha-1 for cabbage and 150 and 300 kg N ha-1 for chrysanthemum), or urea (δ15N = -2.7‰) applied at the lower rate above for the respective species, in addition to the control (no N input) were investigated through a 60-day pot experiment. Application of LM significantly increased plant tissue δ15N (range +9.4 to +14.9‰) over the urea (+3.2 to +3.3‰) or control (+6.8 to 7.7‰) treatments regardless of plant species, strongly reflecting the δ15N of the N source. Plant tissue δ13C were not affected by the treatments for cabbage (range −30.8 to −30.2‰) or chrysanthemum (−27.3 to −26.8‰). However, cabbage dry matter production decreased while its δ13C increased with increasing rate of LM application or increasing soil salinity (P < 0.05), suggesting that salinity stress caused by high rate of LM application likely decreased stomatal conductance and limited growth of cabbage. Our study expanded the use of the δ15N technique in N source (organic vs. synthetic fertilizer) identification and suggested that plant tissue δ13C maybe a sensitive indicator of plant response to salinity stress caused by high LM application rates.

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Abbreviations

LM:

Liquid manure

SM:

Solid manure

EC:

Electrical conductivity of saturated soil extracts

δ15N:

The abundance of 15N in a sample relative to the standard with per mil as unit

δ13C:

The abundance of 13C in a sample relative to the standard with per mil as unit

TOC:

Total organic C

TON:

Total organic N

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Technology Development Program for Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Republic of Korea.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 500-757, South Korea

    Sang-Sun Lim, Woo-Jung Choi, Jin-Hyeob Kwak, Jae-Woon Jung, Kwang-Sik Yoon & Soo-Myung Choi

  2. Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, 442 Earth Sciences Building, Edmonton, AB, Canada, T6G 2E3

    Scott X. Chang

  3. Department of Agronomy, Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 500-757, South Korea

    Han-Yong Kim

  4. Environmental-Friendly Agriculture Research Center, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 500-757, South Korea

    Woo-Jung Choi, Han-Yong Kim & Kwang-Sik Yoon

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  1. Sang-Sun Lim
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Correspondence to Woo-Jung Choi.

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Lim, SS., Choi, WJ., Kwak, JH. et al. Nitrogen and carbon isotope responses of Chinese cabbage and chrysanthemum to the application of liquid pig manure. Plant Soil 295, 67–77 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-007-9262-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-007-9262-0

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