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Effects of nitrogen fertilization on the acidity and salinity of greenhouse soils

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Abstract

A greenhouse pot experiment was conducted to study the effects of conventional nitrogen fertilization on soil acidity and salinity. Three N rates (urea; N0, 0 kg N ha−1; N1, 600 kg N ha−1; and N2, 1,200 kg N ha−1) were applied in five soils with different greenhouse cultivation years to evaluate soil acidification and salinization rate induced by nitrogen fertilizer in lettuce production. Both soil acidity and salinity increased significantly as N input increased after one season, with pH decrease ranging from 0.45 to 1.06 units and electrolytic conductivity increase from 0.24 to 0.68 mS cm−1. An estimated 0.92 mol H+ was produced for 1 mol (NO2 − + NO3 −)-N accumulation in soil. The proton loading from nitrification was 14.3–27.3 and 12.1–58.2 kmol H+ ha−1 in the center of Shandong Province under N1 and N2 rate, respectively. However, the proton loading from the uptake of excess bases by lettuces was only 0.3–4.5 % of that from nitrification. Moreover, the release of protons induced the direct release of base cations and accelerated soil salinization. The increase of soil acidity and salinity was attributed to the nitrification of excess N fertilizer. Compared to the proton loading by lettuce, nitrification contributed more to soil acidification in greenhouse soils.

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Acknowledgments

This work was jointly supported by National High-tech R&D Program of China (863 Program) (2012AA062603), the National Basic Research Program of China (2011CB100502), the Key SQT Innovation Team of Zhejiang Province for Agro-Products Standards and Testing Technology (2010R50028), the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (LY13D010001), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the China Central Universities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Subtropical Soil and Plant Nutrition, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, 310058, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China

    Jiangpei Han, Jiachun Shi, Lingzao Zeng & Jianming Xu

  2. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA

    Laosheng Wu

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  1. Jiangpei Han
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  2. Jiachun Shi
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  3. Lingzao Zeng
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  4. Jianming Xu
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  5. Laosheng Wu
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Correspondence to Jiachun Shi or Laosheng Wu.

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Han, J., Shi, J., Zeng, L. et al. Effects of nitrogen fertilization on the acidity and salinity of greenhouse soils. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 2976–2986 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3542-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3542-z

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