Effects of sewage sludge stabilization on fertilizer value and greenhouse gas emissions after soil application

Application of sewage sludge on agricultural land becomes more and more common in many parts of the world in order to recycle the nutrients from the sludge. A range of sewage sludge stabilization techniques are available to make the sludge more stable prior to storage, transportation, and application. These stabilization techniques include dewatering, drying, anaerobic digestion, composting, and reed bed sludge treatment. However, very few studies have investigated the effect of these techniques after the sludge has been applied to agricultural land. The objective of the current study was therefore to investigate the effect of sewage sludge stabilization techniques on the C and N mineralization and gaseous emissions from soil. A soil incubation was conducted to determine the rate of C and N mineralization and N₂O and CH₄ emissions of sewage sludge stabilized using different techniques. Unstabilized sludge released up to 90% of their C content as CO₂, part of which could be caused by release of CO₂ from carbonates. Compared with this, sludge stabilization including anaerobic digestion and drying resulted in a reduction of the C mineralization rate of about 40%. Liming reduced C mineralization with around 29%, while treatment in a reed bed system reduced it by 74%. The current study thus clearly demonstrated that stabilization techniques resulted in sludge that was more stable once they were applied to agricultural land. Stabilization also reduced the N immobilization phase, potentially improving the value of the sludge as a fertilizer. Emissions of CH₄ were also reduced through sludge stabilization and mainly occurred after application of easily degradable sludge types, which is likely to have enhanced the creation of anaerobic microsites. The stabilization processes also decreased emissions of N₂O. The results for both CH₄ and N₂O indicate that the stabilization tends to reduce the chance of developing conditions where these gases could be produced.     

土壤添加沼渣对温室气体排放及小麦生长的影响

Digestate, the product obtained after anaerobic digestion of organic waste for biogas production, is rich in plant nutrients and might be used to fertilize crops. Wheat(Triticum spp. L.) was fertilized with digestate, urea, or left unfertilized and cultivated in the greenhouse for 120 d. Emissions of greenhouse gasses(carbon dioxide(CO_2), methane(CH_4), and nitrous oxide(N_2O)) were monitored and plant growth characteristics were determined at harvest. The digestate was characterized for heavy metals, pathogens, and C and N mineralization potential in an aerobic incubation experiment. No Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., or viable eggs of helminths were detected in the digested pig slurry, but the number of faecal coliforms was as high as 3.6 × 10~4colony-forming units(CFU) g-~(1)dry digestate. The concentrations of heavy metals did not surpass the upper limits established by US Environmental Protection Agency(EPA). After 28 d, 17% of the organic C(436 g kg~(-1)dry digestate) and 8% of the organic N(6.92 g kg~(-1)dry digestate)were mineralized. Emissions of CO_2 and CH_4 were not significantly affected by fertilization in the wheat-cultivated soil, but digestate significantly increased the cumulative N_2O emission by 5 times compared to the urea-amended soil and 63 times compared to the uncultivated unfertilized soil. It could be concluded that digestate was nutrient rich and low in heavy metals and pathogens, and did not affect emissions of CH_4 and CO_2 when applied to a soil cultivated with wheat, but increased emission of N_2O.     

施用碱稳定固体减轻酸性土壤的酸度和铝毒

A pot experiment was catried out to study alleviation of soil acidity and Al toxicity by applying analkaline-stabilised sewage sludge product (biosolids) to an acid clay sandy loam (pH 5.7) and a strongly acidsandy loam (pH 4.5). Barley (Hondeum vulgare L. cv. Forrester) was used as a test crop and was grownin the sewage sludge-amended (33.5 t sludge DM ha^-1) and unamended soils. The results showed that thealka1ine biosloids increased soil pH from 5.7 to 6.9 for the clay sandy loam and from 4.5 to 6.0 for the sandyloam. The sludge product decreased KCl-extractable Al from 0.1 to 0.0 cmol kg^-1 for the former soil and from 4.0 to 0.1 cmol kg^-1 for the latter soil. As a result, barley plants grew much better and grain yield increased greatly in the amended treatments compared with the unamended controls. These observations indicate that alkaline-stabilised biosolids can be used as a liming material for remedying Al phytotoxicity instrongly acid soils by increasing soil pH and lowering Al bioavailability.     

Comparison of slow‐release nitrogen yield from organic soil amendments and chemical fertilizers and implications for regeneration of disturbed sites

Soil amendments are commonly used to regenerate nutrient levels on disturbed construction sites or mined lands prior to revegetation. Management of nitrogen (N) inputs to the degraded substrates is difficult because the low level of ambient fertility on disturbed substrates requires large total N inputs to sustain revegetative growth, but it also requires low N bioavailability in order to avoid weedy invasion and eutrophication of local watersheds. Commonly available soil amendment materials have a wide variety of N contents and release rates, making specification of appropriate N amendments difficult. We compared N release rates of a variety of organic‐based soil amendments and chemical fertilizers in long‐term aerobic incubation chambers in the lab and at a field revegetation site. The N release rate from these amendments fell into four general groups: (1) rapid N release from soluble chemical fertilizer formulations, (2) longer, controlled N release from chemical‐based, slow‐release formulations, and a two‐phase release pattern (rapid initial phase, slower second phase) from (3) organic‐based blends, as well as (4) unsupplemented municipal yard‐waste composts. The release rates from organic‐based amendments were about three times faster in the 30°C laboratory incubations than in the cool, moist winter growing season at a field site in the Central Valley of California. Relative rates of N release can be compared between amendment materials to help guide selection of N amendments, according to the plant‐growth goals of the revegetation project. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Greenhouse gas emissions from a wastewater sludge-amended soil cultivated with wheat (Triticum spp. L.) as affected by different application rates of charcoal

Applying biochar to soil is an easy way to sequester carbon in soil, while it might reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and stimulate plant growth. The effect of charcoal application (0, 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5%) on GHG emission was studied in a wastewater sludge-amended arable soil (Typic Fragiudepts) cultivated with wheat (Triticum spp. L.) in a greenhouse. The application of charcoal at ≥1.5% reduced the CO₂ emission rate significantly ≥37% compared to unamended soil (135.3 g CO₂ ha⁻¹ day⁻¹) in the first two weeks, while the N₂O emission rate decreased 44% when 4.5% charcoal was added (0.72 g N₂O ha⁻¹ day⁻¹). The cumulative GHG emission over 45 days was 2% lower when 1.5% charcoal, 34% lower when 3.0% charcoal and 39% lower when 4.5% charcoal was applied to the sludge-amended soil cultivated with wheat. Wheat growth was inhibited in the charcoal-amended soil compared to the unamended soil, but not yields after 135 days. It was found that charcoal addition reduced the emissions of N₂O and CO₂, and the cumulative GHG emissions over 45 days, without altering wheat yield.     

Greenhouse gas emissions during the seedling stage of rice agriculture as affected by cultivar type and crop density

Methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions from a paddy nursery at the rice seedling stage were measured on a daily basis by using the conventional rice cultivar Nangeng 56 under both conventional (NG-C) and reduced (NG-R) sowing density, and the hybrid rice Changyou 3 under both conventional (CY-C) and reduced (CY-R) sowing density. High N₂O and CH₄ emissions were observed during the first and last 2?weeks, respectively. Cumulative CH₄ emissions were significantly (P?<?0.001) affected by sowing density rather than by the rice cultivar. Cumulative CH₄ emissions reached 68.2?kg?C?ha^?1 in the CY-C treatment and 121.6?kg?C?ha^?1 in the NG-C treatment, which were significantly (P?<?0.001) higher than the emissions at reduced sowing densities (15.9?kg?C?ha^?1 in the CY-R treatment and 20.9?kg?C?ha^?1 in the NG-R treatment). Under the conventional sowing density, cumulative CH₄ emissions during the seedling stage were comparable to data of rice-growing season. Both the rice cultivar and the sowing density significantly (P?<?0.05–0.01) affected cumulative N₂O emissions. Relative to the CY cultivar, the NG cultivar increased global warming potential (GWP) over a 100-year horizon by 62.1% and 70.7% under the reduced and conventional sowing densities, respectively. The GWP of N₂O and CH₄ during the seedling stage was equivalent to the GWP of the entire rice-growing season in this region, indicating that the seedling stage is an important greenhouse gas emission source of rice agriculture.     

The influence of soil and biosolids type,and microbial immobilisation on nitrogen availability in biosolids‐amended agricultural soils – implications for fertiliser recommendations

Soil microbial biomass interactions influencing the mineralisation of N in biosolids‐amended agricultural soil were investigated under field conditions in two soil types, a silty clay and a sandy silt loam, with contrasting organic matter contents. Soil treatments included: dewatered raw sludge (DRAW); dewatered and thermally dried, mesophilic anaerobically digested biosolids (DMAD and TDMAD, respectively); lime‐treated unstabilised sludge cake (LC); and NH₄Cl as a mineral salt control for measuring nitrification kinetics. Soil mineral N and microbial biomass N (MBN) concentrations were determined over 90 days following soil amendment. Despite its lower total and mineral N contents, TDMAD had a larger mineralisable pool of N than DMAD, and was an effective rapid release N source. Increased rates of mineralisation and nitrification of biosolids‐N were observed in the silty clay soil with larger organic matter content, implying increased microbial turnover of N in this soil type compared with the sandy silt loam, but no significant difference in microbial immobilisation of biosolids‐N was observed between the two soil types. Thus, despite initial differences observed in the rates of N mineralisation, the overall extent of N release for the different biosolids tested was similar in both soil types. Therefore, the results suggest that fertiliser guidelines probably do not need to consider the effect of soil type on the release of mineral N for crop uptake from different biosolids products applied to temperate agricultural soils.     

Soil aggregation and the stabilization of organic carbon as affected by erosion and deposition

The importance of soil aggregation in determining the dynamics of soil organic carbon (SOC) during erosion, transportation and deposition is poorly understood. Particularly, we do not know how aggregation contributes to the often-observed accumulation of SOC at depositional sites. Our objective was to assess how aggregation affects SOC stabilization in comparison to interactions of SOC with minerals. We determined and compared aggregate size distributions, SOC distribution in density fractions, and lignin-derived phenols from aggregated soil samples at both eroding and depositional sites. The stabilization effect of aggregation was quantified by comparing mineralization from intact and crushed macro-aggregates. Deposition of eroded soil material resulted in carbon (C) enrichment throughout the soil profile. Both macro-aggregate associated SOC and C associated with minerals (heavy fraction) increased in their importance from the eroding to the depositional site. In the uppermost topsoil (0–5 cm), SOC mineralization from intact aggregates was larger at the depositional site than at the eroding site, reflecting the large input of labile organic matter (plant residues) promoting aggregation. Contrastingly, in the subsoil, mineralization rates were lower at the depositional site because of effective stabilization by interactions with soil minerals. Aggregate crushing increased SOC mineralization by 10–80% at the eroding site, but not at the depositional site. The content of lignin-derived phenols did not differ between eroding and depositional sites in the topsoil (24.6–30.9 mg per g C) but was larger in the subsoil of the eroding site, which was accompanied by higher lignin oxidation. Lignin data indicated minor effects of soil erosion and deposition on the composition of SOC. We conclude that SOC is better protected in aggregates at the eroding than at the depositional site. During transport disaggregation and consequently SOC mineralization took place, while at the depositional site re-aggregation occurred mainly in the form of macro-aggregates. However, this macro-aggregation did not result in a direct stabilization of SOC. We propose that the occlusion of C inside aggregates serves as a pathway for the eroded C to be later stabilized by organo-mineral interaction.     

Greenhouse gas emissions from Silphium perfoliatum and silage maize cropping on Stagnosols

Background

The sustainability of bioenergy is strongly affected by direct field-derived greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and indirect emissions form land-use change. Marginal land in low mountain ranges is suitable for feedstock production due to small impact on indirect land-use change. However, these sites are vulnerable to high N₂O emissions because of their fine soil texture and hydrology.

Aims

The perennial cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum L.) might outperform silage maize (Zea mays L.) on cold, wet low mountain ranges sites regarding yield and ecosystem services. The aim of this study was to assess whether the cultivation of cup plant also provides GHG mitigation potential compared to the cultivation of maize.

Methods

A t-year field experiment was conducted in a low mountain range region in western Germany to compare area and yield-scaled GHG emissions from cup plant and maize fields. GHG emissions were quantified using the closed chamber method.

Results

Cup plant fields emitted an average of 3.6 ± 4.3 kg N₂O-N ha^–1 year^–1 (–85%) less than maize fields. This corresponded to 74.0 ± 94.1 g CO_2-eq kWh^–1 (–78%) less emissions per produced electrical power. However, cup plant had a significantly lower productivity per hectare (–34%) and per unit of applied nitrogen (–32%) than maize.

Conclusion

Cup plant as a feedstock reduces direct field-derived GHG emissions compared to maize but, due to lower yields cup plant, likely increases emissions associated with land-use changes. Therefore, the increased sustainability of bioenergy from biogas by replacing maize with cup plant is heavily dependent on the performance of maize at these sites and on the ecosystem services of cup plant in addition to GHG savings.     

Phytoextractability of lead from soil by some oilseed crops as affected by sewage sludge and farmyard manure

Abstract

Screenhouse experiments were conducted to study the phytoextractability of lead (Pb) by three oilseed crops (Brassica juncea, Brassica napus and Eruca sativa) from Pb enriched (i.e. 0, 200, 400, 600 and 800 mg Pb kg^?1 soil) unamended, sewage sludge-amended (SS-amended) and farmyard manure-amended (FYM-amended) sandy loam soil. Chlorotic symptoms and stunted growth were observed at Pb₆₀₀ and Pb₈₀₀ treatments. Sewage sludge and FYM slightly decreased chlorosis. The biomass production for amendment treatments followed the order: FYM-amended > SS-amended > Unamended soil, and for species: Brassica juncea > Brassica napus > Eruca sativa. The Pb concentration followed the order: leaf > stem > seed, Brassica napus > Brassica juncea > Eruca sativa, and SS-amended > Unamended > FYM-amended soils. The Pb uptake followed the order: Brassica juncea > Brassica napus > Eruca sativa, and SS-amended > Unamended > FYM-amended soils. Exchangeable and Fe-Mn oxide bound fractions decreased and organic matter bound fraction increased with sewage sludge and FYM. The carbonate bound fraction considerably decreased with FYM.     

温度与土壤水分对有机碳分解速率的影响

试验研究温度与土壤水分对有机碳分解速率的影响,结果表明:相同水分条件下,培育初期(1～20d)各处理CO2排放速率较高,相对值表现为35℃处理>25℃处理>15℃处理>5℃处理;随培育时间延长(>20d),CO2排放速率渐趋平稳。相同温度条件下,30%～90%田间持水量时培育初期(1～20d)各处理CO2排放速率初始值较高,之后降低,当趋于某一定值时,相对值大小随土壤水分含量增加而增加。相同温度与土壤水分条件下,CO2排放速率相对值大小随土壤有机碳含量增加而增加。     

Nutrient cycling and greenhouse gas emissions from soil amended with biochar-manure mixtures

Integrating biochar into cattle diets has recently emerged as a potential management practice for improving on-farm productivity.Yet,information concerning the cycling of biochar-manure mixtures is scarce.A 70-d incubation experiment was conducted within two surface(0–15 cm)Mollisols with contrasting textures,i.e.,sandy clay loam(Raymond)and clayey(Lethbridge),to evaluate the effects of biochar(3 Mg ha^-1)on cumulative greenhouse gas(GHG)emissions and related fertility attributes in the presence or absence of cattle manure(120 Mg ha^-1).Five treatments were included:i)non-amended soil(control,CK),ii)soil amended with pinewood biochar(B),iii)soil amended with beef cattle manure(M)(manure from cattle on a control diet),iv)soil amended with biochar-manure(BM)(manure from cattle on a control diet,with pinewood biochar added at 20 g kg^-1of diet dry matter),and v)soil amended with B and M at the aforementioned rates(B+M).A total of 40 soil columns were prepared and incubated at 21℃and 60%–80%water-holding capacity.On average,total CO₂fluxes increased by 2.2-and 3.8-fold under manure treatments(i.e.,M,BM,and B+M),within Raymond and Lethbridge soils,respectively,relative to CK and B.Similarly,total CH4 fluxes were the highest(P<0.05)in Raymond soil under B+M and BM relative to CK and B,and in Lethbridge soil under M and BM relative to CK and B.In Lethbridge soil,application of BM increased cumulative N₂O emissions by 1.8-fold relative to CK.After 70-d incubation,amendment with BM increased(P<0.05)PO_4-P and NO_3-N+NH_4-N availability in Raymond and Lethbridge soils compared with B.A similar pattern was observed for water-extractable organic carbon in both soils,with BM augmenting(P<0.05)the occurrence of labile carbon over CK and B.It can be concluded that biochar,manure,and/or biochar-manure have contrasting short-term effects on the biogeochemistry of Mollisols.At relatively low application rates,biochar does not necessarily counterbalance manure-derived inputs.Although BM did not mitigate the flux of GHGs over M,biochar-manure has the potential to recycle soil nutrients in semiarid drylands.     

Microbial and enzyme properties of apple orchard soil as affected by long-term application of copper fungicide

Copper-based fungicides have been applied in apple orchards for a long time, which has resulted in increasing soil Cu concentration. However, the microbial and enzyme properties of the orchard soils remain poorly understood. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of long-term application of Cu-based fungicides on soil microbial (microbial biomass carbon (C_mic), C mineralization, and specific respiration rate) and enzyme (urease, acid phosphatase, and invertase activities) properties in apple orchards. Soil samples studied were collected from apple orchards 5, 15, 20, 30, and 45 years old, and one adjacent forest soil as for reference. The mean Cu concentrations of orchard soils significantly increased with increasing orchard ages ranging from 21.8 to 141 mg kg⁻¹, and the CaCl₂-extractable soil Cu concentrations varied from 0.00 to 4.26 mg kg⁻¹. The soil mean C_mic values varied from 43.6 to 116 mg kg⁻¹ in the orchard soils, and were lower than the value of the reference soil (144 mg kg⁻¹). The ratio of soil C_mic to total organic C (C_org) increased from 8.10 to 18.3 mg C_mic g⁻¹ C_org with decreasing orchard ages, and was 26.1 mg C_mic g⁻¹ C_org for the reference soil. A significant correlation was observed between total- or CaCl₂-extractable soil Cu and soil C_mic or C_mic/C_org, suggesting that the soil Cu was responsible for the significant reductions in C_mic and C_mic/C_org. The three enzyme activity assays also showed the similar phenomena, and declined with the increasing orchard ages. The mean soil C mineralization rates were elevated from 110 to 150 mg CO₂-C kg⁻¹ soil d⁻¹ compared with the reference soil (80 mg CO₂-C kg⁻¹ soil d⁻¹), and the mean specific respiration rate of the reference soil (0.63 mg CO₂-C mg⁻¹ biomass C d⁻¹) was significantly smaller than the orchard soils from 1.19 to 3.55 mg CO₂-C mg⁻¹ biomass C d⁻¹. The soil C mineralization rate and the specific respiration rate can be well explained by the CaCl₂-extractable soil Cu. Thus, the long-term application of copper-based fungicides has shown adverse effects on soil microbial and enzyme properties.     

Trace gas emissions from soil of the central highlands of Mexico as affected by natural vegetation: a laboratory study

In the central highlands of Mexico, mesquite (Prosopis laevigata) and huisache (Acacia schaffneri), N₂-fixing trees or shrubs, dominate the vegetation and are currently used in a reforestation program to prevent erosion. We investigated how natural vegetation or cultivation of soil affected oxidation of CH₄, and production of N₂O. Soil was sampled under the canopy of mesquite (MES treatment) and huisache trees (HUI treatment), outside their canopy (OUT treatment) and from fields cultivated with maize (ARA treatment) at three different sites while production of CO₂, and dynamics of CH₄, N₂O and inorganic N (NH₄⁺, and NO₃^–) were monitored in an aerobic incubation. The production of CO₂ was 2.3 times higher and significantly greater in the OUT treatment, 3.0 times higher in the MES treatment and 4.0 times higher in the HUI treatment compared to the ARA treatment. There was no significant difference in oxidation of CH₄ between the treatments, which ranged from 0.019 g CH₄–C kg^–1 day^–1 for the HUI treatment to 0.033 CH₄–C kg^–1 day^–1 for the MES treatment. The production of N₂O was 30 g N₂O–N kg^–1 day^–1 in the MES treatment and >8 times higher compared to the other treatments. The average concentration of NO₃^– was 2 times higher and significantly greater in the MES treatment than in the HUI treatment, 3 times greater than in the OUT treatment and 10 times greater than in the ARA treatment. It was found that cultivation of soil decreased soil organic matter content, C and N mineralization, but not oxidation of CH₄ or production of N₂O.     

Greenhouse gases emission,soil organic carbon and wheat yield as affected by tillage systems and nitrogen management practices

Agricultural activities are responsible for greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission in the environment. Strategies are required to enhance the soil organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen (N) sequestration to adapt and mitigate the climate change. We investigated GHGs emission, SOC and N enhancement under conventional tillage (CT) and zero tillage (ZT) with N management in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Seasonal carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission and global warming potential (GWP) reduced for ZT treatments over CT without residues and 100% of required N with a blanket split application (CT – R + 100N). The ZT with 5 t ha^?1 maize (Zea mays L.) residues retention and 75% of required N and GreenSeeker^TM (GS)-aided N management (ZT + R + 75N + GS) reduced yield-scaled GHGs emission and increased total organic carbon (C) stock over CT – R + 100N. However, nitrous oxide (N₂O) emission was lower in CT. The GS-based N management saved 26–35 kg N ha^?1 in different tillage systems in both years over blanket application with higher N uptake and associated reduction in N₂O emission. The study recommends that ZT with residues retention and GS-based N management can minimize the GHGs emission and improve the SOC.     

黑土土壤水分反射光谱特征定量分析与预测

选择单一土类黑土作为研究对象, 并准确调配其不同含水量,实验室测定土壤高光谱反射率,利用光谱分析与统计方法,定量描述了不同含水量黑土反射光谱特征,并建立了黑土含水量反射光谱预测模型,结果表明,随土壤含水量的增加,达到一定阈值（300 g kg-1）,反射率存在过饱和现象,但其倒数对数微分可以有效去除饱和问题;土壤反射率倒数对数微分对土壤含水量的响应表现出三个变化阶段,导致1 870 nm波段的倒数对数微分也表现为非线性变化,需要利用分段函数进行土壤含水量的光谱精确速测。     

Carbon and nitrogen mineralization of sewage sludge compost in soils with a different initial pH

Soil properties may affect the decomposition of added organic materials and inorganic nitrogen (N) production in agricultural soils. Three soils, Potu (Pu), Sankengtzu (Sk) and Erhlin (Eh) soils, mixed with sewage sludge compost (SSC) at application rates of 0 (control), 25, 75 and 150 Mg ha⁻¹ were selected from Taiwan for incubation for 112 days. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of SSC application rates on the carbon decomposition rate, N transformation and pH changes in three soils with different initial soil pH values (4.8–7.7). The results indicated that the highest peaks of the CO₂ evolution rate occurred after 3 days of incubation, for all treatments. The Pu soil (pH 4.8) had a relatively low rate of CO₂ evolution, total amounts of CO₂ evolution and percentage of added organic C loss, all of which resulted from inhibition of microbial activity under low pH. For the Pu and Sk soils, the concentration of NH₄⁺-N reached its peak after 7–14 days of incubation, which indicated that ammonification might have occurred in the two soils with low initial pH values. NO₃⁻-N rapidly accumulated in the first 7 days of incubation in the Eh soil (pH 7.7). The direction and extent of the soil pH changes were influenced by the N in the SSC and the initial soil pH. Ammonification of organic N in the SSC caused the soil pH to increase, whereas nitrification of mineralized N caused the soil pH to decline. Consequently, the initial soil pH greatly affected the rate of carbon decomposition, ammonification and nitrification of SSC.     

Nitrous oxide emissions from a fallow and wheat field as affected by increased soil temperatures

 In order to determine the effects of increased soil temperature resulting from global warming on microbiological reactions, a 21-month field experiment was carried out in the Bavarian tertiary hills. The major objective was to focus on N₂O releases as either a positive or negative feedback in response to global warming. The soils of a fallow field and a wheat field were heated 3  °C above ambient temperature and N₂O fluxes were measured weekly from June 1994 to March 1996. During the experimental period, measured temperature differences between the control plots and the heated plots were 2.9±0.3  °C at a depth of 0.01 m and 1.0–1.8  °C at a depth of 1 m. Soil moisture decreased with the elevated soil temperatures of the heated plots. The mean differences in soil moisture between the treatments were 6.4% (fallow field) and 5.2%_DW (wheat field dry weight, DW), respectively. Overall N₂O releases during the experimental period from the fallow field were 4.8 kg N₂O–N ha^–1 in the control plot against 5.0 kg N₂O–N ha^–1 in the heated plot, and releases from the wheat field were 8.0 N₂O–N ha^–1 in the control plot and 7.6 N₂O–N kg ha^–1 in the heated plot. However, on a seasonal basis, cumulated N₂O emissions differed between the plots. During the summer months (May–October), releases from the heated fallow plot were 3 times the rates from the control plot. In the winter months, N₂O releases increased in both the fallow and wheat fields and were related to the number of freezing and thawing cycles. Received: 1 December 1997     

长期有机无机肥配施对土壤水稳性团聚体酶活性的影响

The activities of invertase, protease, urease, acid phosphomonoesterase, dehydrogenase, and catalase in different fractions of waterstable aggregates (WSA) were examined in long-term (26 years) fertilised soils. The long-term application of organic manure (OM) with chemical fertiliser (CF) significantly increased macroaggregate and decreased microaggregate percentages, enhanced the mean weight diameter, and significantly increased soil total carbon (TC) and total nitrogen (TN) contents of WSA in different size fractions. Combined fertilisation with OM and CF also increased invertase, protease, urease, acid phosphomonoesterase, dehydrogenase, and catalase activities of WSA in different size fractions. Enzyme activities were higher in macroaggregates than in microaggregates. The distribution of enzyme activities generally followed the distribution of TC and TN in WSA. The geometric mean of the enzyme activities in different WSA of OM-treated soils was significantly higher than that in soils treated with 100% CF or no fertiliser. The results indicated that the long-term combined application of OM with CF increased the aggregate stability and enzyme activity of different WSA sizes, and consequently, improved soil physical structure and increased soil microbial activity.