Tracing sources of soil nitrate using the dual isotopic composition of nitrate in 2 M KCl-extracts

Soils comprise a critical interface between the atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere, and play a major role in the cycling of nitrogen (N), an element crucial to plant growth. Isotope techniques constitute a powerful tool to study the origin and fate of N compounds (e.g. NO₃⁻) within the environment including soils. The objective of our study was to test the usefulness of the isotope composition of soil NO₃⁻ extracted with 2 M KCl (soil NO₃) as a tool to investigate the origin and fate of NO₃⁻ in the environment. Specifically issues related to repeat extractions, crop type, length of fertilization, and soil depth were addressed. Soils from four contrasting agricultural management regimes were sampled. Within the relatively confined study area (4 ha), the isotopic compositions of soil NO₃ differed markedly due to management treatments (up to 6 and 17‰ for δ¹⁵N and δ¹⁸O, respectively), but were repeatable among replicate plots (±1‰). Differences in both δ¹⁵N and δ¹⁸O values were observed between legume and non-legume treatments, as well as fertilized versus non-fertilized treatments, which were larger than the variability observed between replicate plots. Differences in the isotopic composition of extractable soil nitrate were not limited to the surface layer, but also occurred within deeper soil layers. This study indicates that the analysis of the natural abundance stable isotope composition of soil NO₃ may provide a promising additional tool for tracing the origin and fate of NO₃⁻ in the soil zone.     

三种造林模式对北京北部人工水源涵养林地土壤肥力的影响研究

为了认识不同造林模式对人工水源涵养林土壤肥力的影响作用,2010年8月在北京市密云县太师屯镇人工水源涵养林试验示范区内,选择了2008年植造的油松＋五角枫＋紫穗槐（Ⅰ）、油松＋橡栎＋五角枫（Ⅱ）和山桃＋板栗（Ⅲ）3种模式营造的人工林地,设置相对应的3块标准样地1,2,3。对标准地内土壤养分含量进行了描述性统计分析,对土壤肥力进行了综合评价。结果表明：有机质含量为油松＋橡栎＋五角枫〉油松＋五角枫＋紫穗槐〉山桃＋板栗,标准地3的有机质含量为11.3g/kg,比标准地1,2分别低54.3%和54%;全效氮与全效钾含量为：油松＋五角枫＋紫穗槐〉油松＋橡栎＋五角枫〉山桃＋板栗,全氮、全钾含量分别为1.63,1.34,0.80g/kg和2.65,2.32,1.71g/kg。速效钾分别为48.45,96.65,37.75mg/kg。针阔混交林植物种类丰富,郁闭度大,枯落物积累数量多,对水源涵养林土壤肥力改善较为明显。     

长期不同施肥对南方黄泥田水稻子粒品质性状与土壤肥力因子的影响

在福建黄泥田长期定位施肥试验的第26年,研究了不同施肥处理对水稻子粒品质性状与土壤肥力因子的影响。结果表明,化肥+牛粪（NPKM）、化肥+秸秆还田（NPKS）及单施化肥（NPK）处理的水稻子粒必需氨基酸含量分别较不施肥（CK）处理提高256%、161%、131%,差异显著; 粗蛋白与淀粉含量则分别提高111141与2339个百分点,均以NPKM处理增效最为突出。各施肥处理显著提高了子粒氮、磷含量,升幅最高的NPKM处理分别比CK提高261%、311%,且提高了子粒钙、镁、硫中量元素含量。子粒氮、磷、镁、硫含量与氨基酸呈显著正相关,子粒氮、钙、硫含量与淀粉呈显著正相关。3个施肥处理均提高了土壤有机质及有效养分含量,并以速效钾的增加最为明显。此外,土壤有机质、碱解氮、速效磷等肥力因子与子粒氨基酸、淀粉品质性状均呈显著正相关; 土壤碱解氮和子粒氮含量与土壤速效磷及子粒磷含量均呈显著正相关。综合考虑施肥对水稻产量、品质性状与稻田土壤肥力的影响,以NPKM处理最优。     

西湖平原区连续13年定位施肥对麦、稻产量及土壤肥力的影响

以浙江省水网平原水稻主产区土壤为对象,通过定位试验,研究了连续13年的不同施肥处理对麦稻产量、土壤养分状况和物理性状的影响。结果表明,化肥配施有机肥可显著提高麦、稻产量; 不同施肥处理的长期定位试验土壤有机质含量和全氮均呈上升趋势,增幅依次为: 栏肥+NPK秸秆+NPKNPK秸秆栏肥CK处理; 土壤碱解氮和速效磷也呈增加趋势,以栏肥+NPK处理的增幅最为明显。土壤物理性状的分析表明,长期施肥均能明显增加土壤水稳性团粒含量和土壤孔隙度。经土壤养分平衡分析,栏肥+NPK、秸秆+NPK和NPK处理的氮和磷呈现盈余,秸秆和CK处理氮和磷亏缺; 栏肥+NPK和秸秆+NPK处理钾基本平衡,NPK、秸秆、栏肥和CK处理钾严重亏缺。长期定位试验进一步证明有机肥与氮、磷、钾化肥长期配合施用可实现当地农作物持续稳产,农田施肥管理要注意适当减少氮、磷投入,增加钾肥施用量,保持农田土壤养分平衡。     

Mobility and phytoavailability of arsenic in an abandoned mining area

The mobility and phytoavailability of arsenic in an area affected by the abandoned exploitation of an arsenical tungsten-tin deposit was studied to establish the current and eventual environmental risks and to propose possible remediation practices. Soil and plant samples were collected at different distances from the polluting sources and analyzed for their As content and distribution. Critical soil total concentrations of As were found, with values in the range 175-2300 mg kg^− 1. The readily labile As contents represent < 0.2% of the total concentrations, whereas the As contents more prone to be mobilized could rise up to 25%. Different phytostabilizing plants were identified, namely, Agrostis castellana (Boiss. & Reut.), Centaurea jacea L., Eryngium campestre L. and Scirpus holoschoenus L.. Such plants show important root bioaccumulation factor values in relation to the labile As contents (up to 197, 58, 201 and 88, respectively) and low translocation factor values (down to 0.170, 0.032, 0.173 and 0.036, respectively). Additionally to promote the revegetation with these plants, the species Rumex acetosella L. should be eliminated as this behaves as an index plant, reaching above-ground As concentrations up to 218 mg kg^− 1.     

Root growth conditions in the topsoil as affected by tillage intensity

Many studies have reported impeded root growth in topsoil under reduced tillage or direct drilling, but few have quantified the effects on the least limiting water range for root growth. This study explored the effects of tillage intensity on critical soil physical conditions for root growth in the topsoil. Samples were taken from a 7-year tillage experiment on a Danish sandy loam at Foulum, Denmark (56°30′ N, 9°35′ E) in 2008. The main crop was spring barley followed by either dyer's woad (Isatis tinctoria L.) or fodder radish (Raphanus sativus L.) cover crops as subtreatment. The tillage treatments were direct drilling (D), harrowing 8-10 cm (H), and ploughing (P) to 20 cm depth. A chisel coulter drill was used in the H and D treatments and a traditional seed drill in the P treatment. Undisturbed soil cores were collected in November 2008 at soil field moisture capacity from the 4-8 and 12-16 cm depths.We estimated the critical aeration limit from either 10% air-filled porosity (ε_a) or relative gas diffusivity (D/D₀) of 0.005 or 0.02 and found a difference between the two methods. The critical limit of soil aeration was best assessed by measuring gas diffusivity directly. Root growth was limited by a high penetration resistance in the D and H soils (below tillage depth). Poor soil aeration did not appear to be a significant limiting factor for root growth for this sandy loam soil, irrespective of tillage treatment. The soil had a high macroporosity and D/D₀ exceeded 0.02 at field capacity. Fodder radish resulted in more macropores, higher gas diffusivity and lower pore tortuosity compared to dyer's woad. This was especially important for the H treatment where compaction was a significant problem at the lower depths of the arable layer (10-20 cm depth). Our results suggest that fodder radish could be a promising tool in the amelioration of soil compaction.     

Impact of land degradation on soil respiration in a steppe (Stipa tenacissima L.) semi-arid ecosystem in the SE of Spain

Climate change scenarios predict increases in temperature, changes in precipitation patterns, and longer drought periods in most semi-arid regions of the world. Ecosystems in these regions are prone to land degradation, which may be aggravated by climate change. Soil respiration is one of the main processes responsible for organic carbon losses from arid and semi-arid ecosystems. We measured soil respiration over one year in two steppe ecosystems having different degrees of land degradation under three ground-covers: with vegetation, bare soil, and an intermediate situation between plants and bare soil.The largest differences in soil respiration rates between the sites were observed in spring, coinciding with the highest level of plant activity. The degraded site had drier and hotter soils with less soil water availability and a longer drought period. As a result, vegetation on the degraded site did not respond to spring rainfall events. Soil respiration showed a strong seasonal variability, with average annual rates of 1.1 and 0.8 μmol CO₂ m⁻² s⁻¹ in the natural and degraded sites, respectively. We did not observe significant differences in soil respiration rates associated with ground-cover i.e., the temporal variation was much larger than the spatial variation. At both sites, soil moisture was the controlling driver of soil respiration for most of the year, when temperatures were above 20 °C and constrained the response to temperature for the few months when the temperature was below 20 °C. An empirical model based on soil temperature and soil moisture explained 90% and 72% of the seasonal variability of soil respiration on the natural and degraded sites, respectively. For the first time, this study suggests that land degradation may alter the carbon balance of these ecosystems through changes in the temporal dynamics of soil respiration and plant productivity, which have important negative consequences for ecosystem functioning and sustainability.     

Rhizospheric and heterotrophic respiration of a warm-temperate oak chronosequence in China

Plot trenching and root decomposition experiments were conducted in a warm-temperate oak chronosequence (40-year-old, 48-year-old, 80-year-old, and 143-year-old) in China. We partitioned total soil surface CO₂ efflux (R_S) into heterotrophic (R_H) and rhizospheric (R_R) components across the growing season of 2009. We found that the temporal variation of R_R and R_H can be well explained by soil temperature (T₅) at 5 cm depth using exponential equations for all forests. However, R_R of 40-year-old and 48-year-old forests peaked in September, while their T₅ peaks occurred in August. R_R of 80-year-old and 143-year-old forests showed a similar pattern to T₅. The contribution of R_R to R_S (RC) of 40-year-old and 48-year-old forests presented a second peak in September. Seasonal variation of R_R may be accounted for by the different successional stages. Cumulative R_H and R_R during the growing season varied with forest age. The estimated R_H values for 40-year-old, 48-year-old, 80-year-old and 143-year-old forests averaged 431.72, 452.02, 484.62 and 678.93 g C m⁻², respectively, while the corresponding values of R_R averaged 191.94, 206.51, 321.13 and 153.03 g C m⁻². The estimated RC increased from 30.78% in the 40-year-old forest to 39.85% in the 80-year-old forest and then declined to 18.39% in the 143-year-old forest. We found soil organic carbon (SOC), especially the light fraction organic carbon (LFOC), stock at 0-10 cm soil depth correlated well with R_H. There was no significant relationship between R_R and fine root biomass regardless of stand age. Measured apparent temperature sensitivity (Q₁₀) of R_H (3.93 ± 0.27) was significantly higher than that of R_R (2.78 ± 0.73). Capillary porosity decreased as stand age increased and it was negatively correlated to cumulative R_S. Our results emphasize the importance of partitioning soil respiration in evaluating the stand age effect on soil respiration and its significance to future model construction.     

Long-term plant growth legacies overwhelm short-term plant growth effects on soil microbial community structure

Plant-soil feedbacks are gaining attention for their ability to determine plant community development. Plant-soil feedback models and research assume that plant-soil interactions occur within days to weeks, yet, little is known about how quickly and to what extent plants change soil community composition. We grew a dominant native plant (Pseudoroegneria spicata) and a dominant non-native plant (Centaurea diffusa) separately in both native- and non-native-cultivated field soils to test if these species could overcome soil legacies and create new soil communities in the short-term. Soil community composition before and after plant growth was assessed in bulk and rhizosphere soils using phospholipid fatty acid analyses. Nematode abundance and mycorrhizal colonization were also measured following plant growth. Field-collected, native-cultivated soils showed greater bacterial, Gram (−), fungal, and arbuscular mycorrhizal PLFA abundance and greater PLFA diversity than field-collected, non-native-cultivated soils. Both plant species grew larger in native- than non-native-cultivated soils, but neither plant affected microbial composition in the bulk or rhizosphere soils after two months. Plants also failed to change nematode abundance or mycorrhizal colonization. Plants, therefore, appear able to create microbial legacies that affect subsequent plant growth, but contrary to common assumptions, the species in this study are likely to require years to create these legacies. Our results are consistent with other studies that demonstrate long-term legacies in soil microbial communities and suggest that the development of plant-soil feedbacks should be viewed in this longer-term context.     

Constant and diurnally-varying temperature regimes lead to different temperature sensitivities of soil organic carbon decomposition

In a 122-day incubation experiment with two soil types under four temperature treatments, we examined whether the temperature sensitivity of soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposition differed between constant and diurnally-varying soil temperature regimes. We calculated the Q₁₀ values after accounting for changes in substrate availability and quality among treatments over time. The Q₁₀ values under constant temperature regime were consistently and significantly higher than those under diurnally-varying temperature regime, particularly in the later stages of decomposition (by up to 30%). This result indicated that different temperature regime was one of the important factors causing the current controversy about the temperature sensitivity of SOC decomposition in published reports.