Tillage-induced environmental conditions in soil and substrate limitation determine biogenic gas production

Tillage changes soil environmental conditions and controls the distribution of residues in the soil, both actions that affect the production and emission of soil biogenic gases (CO₂, N₂O, and CH₄). The objective of this study was to determine how tillage-induced environmental conditions and substrate quality affect the mineralization rate of easily metabolizable compounds and the subsequent production of these gases. Carbon compounds, with and without nitrogen, were applied to soil cropped to maize under tilled and no-till systems. Following substrate application in the spring and summer, biogenic gases were measured periodically at the soil surface (flux) and within the profile (concentration) at 10-, 20-, and 30-cm depths (i.e., within, at the bottom of, and below the plough layer). Strong CO₂ and N₂O responses to sucrose and glycine in both the field and the laboratory indicate that the soil was C- and N-limited. Surface fluxes of CO₂ and N₂O were greater in soils amended with glycine than with sucrose and were greater in tilled than no-till soils. Transient emission of CH₄ following the addition of glycine was observed and could be attributed to inhibition of N mineralization and nitrification processes on CH₄ oxidation. Laboratory and field measurements indicated that the larger substrate-induced CO₂ emission from the tilled soils could not be attributed to differences in the total biomass or the basal respiratory activity of the soils. Thus, there appears to be no underlying difference in the functional capacity of the microbial communities under different tillage regimes. Comparison of gas profiles indicates relative accumulation of CO₂ at depth in soils under no-till, as well as greater decline in profile CO₂ content with time in the tilled compared to the no-till soil. These results support the conclusion that greater CO₂ efflux from the tilled soils resulted from more rapid gas diffusion through the profile. Hence, the observed differences in gas fluxes between tilled and no-till soils can be attributed to differences in physical environment.     

Glomalin in aggregate size classes from three different farming systems

Glomalin was measured in soil from farming systems managed for 8 years by chisel tillage (CT), more intensive tillage for organic (ORG) production, and no tillage (NT) on Acrisols (FAO Soil Units) in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. Whole soil and aggregate size classes of >2.00, 0.50–2.00 and 0.21–0.50 mm (macroaggregates), 0.05–0.21 mm (microaggregates), and <0.05 mm (fine material) were examined. Glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP) was extracted from 1-g samples (four plots per treatment) with 100 mM sodium pyrophosphate, pH 9.0, at 121 °C in three extraction cycles. Extracts were pooled and quantified by using the Bradford protein assay. Concentrations of GRSP and total carbon (C) in aggregates were linearly related across aggregate size classes for all treatments (GRSP = 0.101C + 0.56, r² = 0.95). No tillage had significantly greater whole soil GRSP than did CT or ORG (P = 0.01). Mean values for GRSP in aggregates of NT were higher than for CT or ORG aggregates by 0.53 and 0.66 mg g⁻¹ aggregates, respectively. There were no differences among treatments in GRSP concentrations in fine material. In NT the concentration of GRSP increased as aggregate size increased in contrast to the disturbed treatments, CT or ORG, where there were no differences in GRSP concentration across aggregate size fractions. Larger proportions of GRSP were distributed in macroaggregates of NT compared to CT and ORG in contrast to larger proportions in microaggregates of CT and ORG than in NT. Although soil disturbance in ORG farming is greater than for CT farming, both treatments had similar GRSP concentrations and distributions.     

Short-term changes in nitrogen availability, gas fluxes (CO2, NO, N2O) and microbial biomass after tillage during pasture re-establishment in Rondônia, Brazil

Anthropogenic conversion of primary forest to pasture for cattle production is still frequent in the Amazon Basin. Practices adopted by ranchers to restore productivity to degraded pasture have the potential to alter soil N availability and N gas losses from soils. We examined short-term (35 days) effects of tillage prior to pasture re-establishment on soil N availability, CO₂, NO and N₂O fluxes and microbial biomass C and N under degraded pasture at Nova Vida ranch, Rondônia, Brazilian Amazon. We collected soil samples and measured gas fluxes in tilled and control (non tilled pasture) 12 times at equally spaced intervals during October 2001 to quantify the effect of tillage. Maximum soil NH₄⁺ and NO₃⁻ pools were 13.2 and 6.3 kg N ha⁻¹ respectively after tillage compared to 0.24 and 6.3 kg N ha⁻¹ in the control. Carbon dioxide flux ranged from 118 to 181 mg C–CO₂ m² h⁻¹ in the control (non-tilled) and from 110 to 235 mg C–CO₂ m² h⁻¹ when tilled. Microbial biomass C varied from 365 to 461 μg g⁻¹ in the control and from 248 to 535 μg g⁻¹ when tilled. The values for N₂O fluxes ranged from 1.22 to 96.9 μg N m⁻² h⁻¹ in the tilled plots with a maximum 3 days after the second tilling. Variability in NO flux in the control and when tilled was consistent with previous measures of NO emissions from pasture at Nova Vida. When tilled, the NO/N₂O ratio remained <1 after the first tilling suggesting that denitrification dominated N cycling. The effects of tilling on microbial parameters were less clear, except for a decrease in qCO₂ and an increase in microbial biomass C/N immediately after tilling. Our results suggest that restoration of degraded pastures with tillage will lead to less C matter, at least initially. Further long-term research is needed.     

Soil carbon dioxide fluxes following tillage in semiarid Mediterranean agroecosystems

In semiarid Mediterranean agroecosystems, low and erratic annual rainfall together with the widespread use of mouldboard ploughing (conventional tillage, CT), as the main traditional tillage practice, has led to a depletion of soil organic matter (SOM) and with increases in CO₂ emissions from soil to the atmosphere. In this study, we evaluated the viability of conservation tillage: RT, reduced tillage (chisel and cultivator ploughing) and, especially, NT (no-tillage) to reduce short-term (from 0 to 48 h after a tillage operation) and mid-term (from 0 h to several days since tillage operation) tillage-induced CO₂ emissions. The study was conducted in three long-term tillage experiments located at different sites of the Ebro river valley (NE Spain) across a precipitation gradient. Soils were classified as: Fluventic Xerocrept, Typic Xerofluvent and Xerollic Calciorthid. Soil temperature and water content were also measured in order to determine their influence on tillage-induced CO₂ fluxes. The majority of the CO₂ flux measured immediately after tillage ranged from 0.17 to 6 g CO₂ m⁻² h⁻¹ and was from 3 to 15 times greater than the flux before tillage operations, except in NT where soil CO₂ flux was low and steady during the whole study period. Mid-term CO₂ emission showed a different trend depending on the time of the year in which tillage was implemented. Microclimatic soil conditions (soil temperature and water content) had little impact on soil CO₂ emission following tillage. In the semiarid Mediterranean agroecosystems studied, NT had low short-term soil CO₂ efflux compared with other soil tillage systems (e.g., conventional and reduced tillage) and therefore can be recommended to better manage C in soil.     

Simulating management effects on crop production, tile drainage, and water quality using RZWQM-DSSAT

The objective of this study was to explore if more crop-specific plant growth modules can improve simulations of crop yields, and N in tile flow under different management practices compared with a generic plant growth module. We calibrated and evaluated the Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZWQM) with the Decision Support for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT v3.5) plant growth modules (RZWQM-DSSAT) for simulating tillage (NT — no till, RT — ridge till, CP — chisel plow, and MP — moldboard plow), crop rotation {CC — continuous corn, and CS — corn (Zea mays L.)-soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]}, and nitrogen (N) (SA — single application at preplant, and LSNT — late spring soil N test based application) and manure (SM — fall injected swine manure) management effects on crop production and water quality. Data from 1978 to 2003 from a water quality experiment near Nashua (Nashua experiments), Iowa, USA, were used. The model was calibrated using data from one treatment plot and validated for the rest of the plots. Simulated management effects on annual N loading in tile flow were agreeable with measured effects in 85%, 99%, 88%, and 78% of the cases for tillage, crop rotation (CS vs. CC), N application timing (SA vs. LSNT), and swine manure applications (SM vs. SA), respectively. On average, the LSNT plots were simulated to have 359 kg ha^− 1 higher corn yield compared to SA, when the observed increase was 812 kg ha^− 1. Grain yield simulations were not sensitive to differences between RT and NT, between SM and SA treatments, and between CS and CC. We conclude that considering the uncertainties of basic input data, processes in the field, and lack of site specific weather data, the results obtained with this RZWQM-DSSAT hybrid model were not much better than the results obtained earlier with the generic crop growth module.     

土壤杂草种子库与杂草综合管理

土壤杂草种子库是农田杂草发生危害的主要根源,种子库的动态变化规律对于杂草的综合管理具有非常重要的意义。目前研究表明,杂草种子库的密度和组成变化很大,与田间杂草群落具有密切的联系。杂草种子库时刻处于输入和输出的动态变化之中。耕作方式影响杂草种子在土壤中的垂直分布,从而间接影响种子库的密度和种类组成;作物轮作使杂草的生存环境趋于多样化,能够限制某些对单一种植系统有着良好适应性的杂草种类的生长,作物轮作对杂草种子库种类组成和丰富度的影响要大于耕作方式;杂草管理措施能够大大降低田间杂草的结实,从而减小杂草种子库的规模。随着人们对除草剂使用和环境安全问题的日益关注,发展基于生态规律的杂草管理措施越来越受到人们重视,结合近几年国内外的研究进展,作者提出了杂草种子库今后的一些新的研究发展方向。     

船用喷水推进器内部流动特性分析

为了解航速对船用喷水推进器内部流动特性的影响,以轴流式喷水推进器为研究对象,基于ANSYS-CFX软件,采用N-S基本方程和标准k-ε湍流模型,对以额定转速5500 r/min以及不同航速条件下的喷水推进器进行全流域定常数值模拟,得到了不同航速下喷水推进器叶轮叶片在不同切面上的压力载荷情况,各个过流部件上的湍动能变化规...     

摆动分离筛薯土分离机理分析与参数优化试验

针对摆动分离筛薯土分离机理不明确,作业参数匹配不合理导致明薯率与马铃薯破皮率矛盾突出等问题,利用高速摄像机实时拍摄不同曲柄转速、筛面倾角和机器前进速度时摆动分离筛上薯土混合物的分布状态,统计并分析薯土混合物分布高度的变化规律,揭示薯土分离机理,并获得影响分离筛性能主要因素的取值范围。以明薯率和破皮率为评价指标,采用Box-Behnken响应面试验方法进行试验,建立各指标与因素间的回归数学模型,对影响摆动分离筛性能的结构与工作参数进行优化。结果表明,各因素对明薯率、破皮率影响由大到小为曲柄转速、筛面倾角、机器前进速度。摆动分离筛优化参数组合为:曲柄转速230 r/min,筛面倾角21.1°,机器前进速度2.03 km/h,优化后明薯率和破皮率分别为98.94%和0.21%,明薯率较优化前提高1.68个百分点,破皮率较优化前降低9.6个百分点,参数优化试验结果满足国家标准要求。     

基于OFDM-MIMO移动通信模型的采摘机器人设计

为了提高果树采摘机器人的智能化和自动化水平,提高机器人的实时通信和在线控制能力,实现机器人作业过程的远程控制,在采摘机器人通信系统中引入了OFDM-MIMO模型,并将移动4G技术应用到了机器人的设计中,突破了机器人控制距离限制,实现了机器人的跨区域无线通信。机器人采用视觉传感器和4G网络采集并传输图像,图像数据可以在远程浏览器端实时显示,便于掌握机器人作业信息。当机器人碰撞传感器发出信号时,可以利用OFDM-MIMO信道模型进行图像的高效传输,并将视觉传感器采集的图像信息传送给远程控制端,在采摘出现失误时可以及时地调整机器人的状态,实现果实采摘的在线控制。同时,设计了机器人的实验样机,并对机器人的果实定位能力和通信能力进行了实验和仿真。实验和仿真结果表明:该种机器人可以有效地识别普通果实和套袋果实,并且通信实验测试和仿真测试的结果吻合,从而验证了结果的可靠性及OFDMMIMO模型在采摘机器人通信系统中的可行性。     

耕作方式对土壤理化性状及夏玉米生长发育和产量的影响

研究耕作方式对土壤理化性状、夏玉米生长发育及籽粒产量的影响,为黄淮海北部地区土壤结构改善和籽粒产量提高提出有利的科学依据。试验设夏玉米前茬深松、翻耕、隔年深松和传统耕作旋耕4个处理。研究结果表明,深松、隔年深松、翻耕能够显著降低10 cm以下土层的土壤紧实度;提高各生育时期土壤含水量,尤其以20～40 cm土层表现最为明显;增加20～60 cm土层速效钾含量;有利于维持夏玉米灌浆中后期叶面积指数,干物质的积累量增加7．79％～18．09％;提高籽粒最大灌浆速率、平均灌浆速率,每公顷产量提高4．1％～9．3％。各处理间以深松和隔年深松处理表现最好,且两处理无显著差异。本试验条件下,隔年深松是兼顾高产节能高效的耕作方式。