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Potential N mineralization and availability to maize in black soils in response to soil fertility improvement in Northeast China

  • Soils, Sec 3 • Remediation and Management of Contaminated or Degraded Lands • Research Article
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Abstract

Purpose

Understanding the soil nitrogen (N) mineralization potential (N0) and crop N availability during the growing season is essential for improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and preventing over-fertilization, which lead to negative environmental impacts.

Methods

Five black soils with different levels of fertility were selected in Northeast China. The N0 and kinetics of these soils were estimated through laboratory experiments at different incubation temperatures (15, 25, and 35 °C). N mineralization dynamics were simulated using field soil temperature according to the incubation results. Moreover, the N uptake dynamics of maize were simulated according to the literature.

Results

Compared with the very low-fertility soils, the cumulative mineralized nitrogen increased under all incubation temperatures (15, 25, and 35 °C), by 48–136%, 8–61%, and 24–59%, respectively, in the medium- and high-fertility soils. The highest N0 values (96.90, 115.31, and 121.33 mg/kg at the three different temperatures) were recorded in the very high-fertility soils. The soil N mineralization dynamics and N uptake of maize in the growing season were highly consistent over time, although the soil N supply could not meet the maize growth requirements. The higher the soil fertility, the lower the N fertilizer requirement.

Conclusions

Different fertilizer strategies were developed based on the cumulative mineralized N, N uptake by maize, and NUE in soils with different fertility levels. We suggested a reduction of 50–65 kg N/ha in N fertilizer in the two highest fertility soils. This study provided basic data to reduce chemical N fertilizer to improve NUE and reduce negative environmental impacts.

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Funding

This research was funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFD0200301) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41807105, 41877072).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Engineering Laboratory for Improving Quality of Arable Land, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, South Zhongguancun Street No. 12, Beijing, 100081, People’s Republic of China

    HaiMei Fu, YingHua Duan & MingGang Xu

  2. Beijing Center for Physical and Chemical Analysis, Beijing, 100089, People’s Republic of China

    HaiMei Fu

  3. Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, 130124, People’s Republic of China

    Ping Zhu & HongJun Gao

  4. South Subtropical Crops Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Zhanjiang, 524091, People’s Republic of China

    MingGang Xu

  5. College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, People’s Republic of China

    XiaoMei Yang

  6. Soil Physics and Land Management, Wageningen University & Research, 6700AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    XiaoMei Yang

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  1. HaiMei Fu
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  2. YingHua Duan
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Correspondence to YingHua Duan or MingGang Xu.

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Responsible editor: Jianming Xue

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Fu, H., Duan, Y., Zhu, P. et al. Potential N mineralization and availability to maize in black soils in response to soil fertility improvement in Northeast China. J Soils Sediments 21, 905–913 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-020-02794-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-020-02794-x

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