Optimisation of fertiliser rates in crop production against energy use indicators

Optimising mineral nitrogen (N) use in crop production is inevitable target as mineral fertilisers reflect one of the highest inputs both in terms of economy and energy. The aim of the study was to compare the relationship between the rate of N fertiliser application and different measures of energy parameters exemplary data for spring-wheat in boreal climate condition in Estonia in 2006–2010. The effect of mineral N with rates 0, 40, 80, 120 and 160 kg N ha⁻¹ was studied on the background of composted cow manure and without organic fertilisers. Univalent parameters, energy gain (EG) (energy output − energy input) and energy ratio (ER) (energy output/energy input) were calculated. To aggregate parameters with different units (ER and EG) we proposed two standardisation approaches for combined indices. ER maximisation gave both organic fertilisation background optimum N norms significantly lower than EG (p < 0.05) optimisation. Both the new combined indices gave optimum N norms in between the rate of ER an EG. Composted cow manure background did not affect mineral N optimisation significantly. We suggest optimisation of mineral N according to bi-dimensional parameters as they capture important features of production efficiency and are more objective using as advisory tool for sustainable production systems.     

Mass balanced based LCA of a common carp-lettuce aquaponics system

An aquaponics system (AS) is an integrated system that combines a recirculating aquaculture system and a hydroponics system (HS). It is designed to recover nutrients released from fish and transfer them to plants to provide a system more environmentally-friendly than the two systems working separately. As a result, several AS are under development, but little information is available about their overall performances. The aim of this study was to assess nutrient-use efficiency and environmental impacts of an AS, specifically a common carp-lettuce AS located in a greenhouse. Nutrient budgets of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) were calculated and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was performed for the AS and for a lettuce Individual Hydroponics System (IHS), similar to the HS of the AS, operating in the greenhouse at the same time. The experiment was performed over a 52-day cycle, which corresponds to the growing time required to harvest marketable lettuce. The nutrient budgets were well balanced, with 24.6% of the N unaccounted-for, most likely due to N2 gas emission, and 6.6% of the P unaccounted-for, most likely due to having underestimated the quantity of sediment. At the beginning of the experiment, N represented 55.9%, 37.1% and 0.1% of the total N input in the formulated feed, stocked fish and lettuce seedlings, respectively. At the end of the experiment, N represented 47.6% and 0.4% of the total N input in the harvested fish and lettuce, respectively. At the beginning of the experiment, P represented 56.94%, 40.20% and 0.03% of the total P input in the formulated feed, stocked fish and lettuce seedlings, respectively. At the end of the experiment, P represented 51.52% and 0.42% of the total P input in the harvested fish and lettuce, respectively. LCA clearly indicated two environmental impact hotspots: the origin of nutrients and energy use. One kg of lettuce growth in the AS clearly had lower environmental impacts than that in the IHS for climate change, acidification, eutrophication, land competition and cumulative energy demand; however, a decrease in water dependence was not observed. The indicator for net primary production use highlighted the dependence of the AS on natural resources, especially fish meal and fish oil. Compared to the use of chemical nutrients in the IHS, the use of nutrients from formulated feed in the AS decreased climate change impact but increased the use of natural resources.     

5个竹种林下土壤营养元素含量比较

[目的]比较不同竹种林下土壤的营养元素含量。[方法]在福建农林大学百竹园内选取大明竹、牡竹、角竹、花巨竹和大木竹5个竹种,分别于春、夏、秋、冬4个季节对其林下土壤进行"S"型多点采样,对其氮、磷、钾含量进行测定。[结果]大明竹、牡竹、角竹、花巨竹和大木竹5个竹种林下土壤的营养元素含量皆较高,但各竹种之间的营养元素含量有显著差异,且各竹种在不同季节的营养元素含量也有明显差异。其中大明竹林下土壤的营养元素含量最高,且最为稳定,牡竹相对较差。[结论]在福建地区,大明竹对营养元素的产生及维系稳定具有良好的能力,可成为该地区城市观赏用竹及发展林下经济的优良竹种。     

Response of the soil fungal community to multi-factor environmental changes in a temperate forest

Both environmental and climatic changes are known to influence soil microbial biomes in terrestrial ecosystems. However, there are limited data defining the interactive effects of multi-factor environmental disturbances, including N-deposition, precipitation, and air temperature, on soil fungal communities in temperate forests. A 3-year outdoor pot experiment was conducted to examine the temporal shifts of soil fungal communities in a temperate forest following N-addition, precipitation and air temperature changes. The shifts in the structure and composition of soil fungal communities were characterized by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and DNA sequencing. N-addition regimen induced significant alterations in the composition of soil fungal communities, and this effect was different at both higher and lower altitudes. The response of the soil fungal community to N-addition was much stronger in precipitation-reduced soils compared to soils experiencing enhanced precipitation. The combined treatment of N-addition and reduced precipitation caused more pronounced changes in the lower altitude versus those in the higher one. Certain fungal species in the subphylum Pezizomycotina and Saccharomycotina distinctively responded to N fertilization and soil water control at both altitudes. Redundancy discrimination analysis showed that changes in environmental factors and soil physicochemical properties explained 43.7% of the total variability in the soil fungal community at this forest ecosystem. Variations in the soil fungal community were significantly related to the altitude, soil temperature, total soil N content (TN) and pH value (P < 0.05). We present evidence for the interactive effects of N-addition, water manipulation and air temperature to reshape soil fungal communities in the temperate forest. Our data could provide new insights into predicting the response of soil micro-ecosystem to climatic changes.     

Nitrogen use efficiency of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) as influenced by wheat–cotton cropping systems

Wheat–cotton rotations largely increase crop yield and improve resources use efficiency, such as the radiation use efficiency. However, little information is available on the nitrogen (N) utilization and requirement of cotton under wheat–cotton rotations. This study was to determine the N uptake and use efficiency by evaluating the cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) N use and the soil N balances, which will help to improve N resource management in wheat–cotton rotations. Field experiments were conducted during 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 growing seasons in the Yangtze River region in China. Two cotton cultivars (Siza 3, mid-late maturity with 130 days growth duration; CCRI 50, early maturity with 110 days growth duration) were planted under four cropping systems including monoculture cotton (MC), wheat/intercropped cotton (W/IC), wheat/transplanted cotton (W/TC) and wheat/direct-seeded cotton (W/DC). The N uptake and use efficiency of cotton were quantified under different cropping systems. The results showed that wheat–cotton rotations decreased the cotton N uptake through reducing the N accumulation rate and shortening the duration of fast N accumulation phase as compared to the monoculture cotton. Compared with MC, the N uptake of IC, TC and DC were decreased by 12.0%, 20.5% and 23.4% for Siza 3, respectively, and 7.3%, 10.7% and 17.6% for CCRI 50, respectively. Wheat–cotton rotations had a lower N harvest index as a consequence of the weaker sink capacity in the cotton plant caused by the delayed fruiting and boll formation. Wheat–cotton rotations used N inefficiently relative to the monoculture cotton, showing consistently lower level of the N agronomic use efficiency (NAE), N apparent recovery efficiency (NRE), N physiological efficiency (NPE) and N partial factor productivity (NPFP), particularly for DC. Relative to the mid–late maturity cultivar of Siza 3, the early maturity cultivar of CCRI 50 had higher N use efficiency in wheat–cotton rotations. An analysis of the crop N balance suggested that the high N excess in preceding wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in wheat–cotton rotations led to significantly higher N surpluses than the monoculture cotton. The N management for the cotton in wheat–cotton rotations should be improved by means of reducing the base fertilizer input and increasing the bloom application.     

Achieving legislation requirements with different nitrogen fertilization strategies: Results from a long term experiment

The Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC, Anonymous, 1991) was developed in Europe to limit environmental threats from intensive livestock farming and N fertilizer applications to crops. It imposed several rules on farmers and public bodies, one of which was nutrient fertilization plan adoption. Here we use results from the Tetto Frati (Northern Italy) Long-Term Experiment to verify the terms and coefficients in the official Italian guidelines and evaluate the limitations imposed to organic fertilization amounts. For this purpose, we mined long-term experimental data of crop yield, N uptake, N use efficiency, and soil organic matter content from miscellanea cropping systems fertilized with farmyard manure (FYM) and bovine slurry (SLU), typical of a dairy farm in Northern Italy. N fertilization efficiency indicators (Removal to Fertilizer ratio, Apparent Recovery and Nitrogen Fertilizer Replacement Value) indicated that in the long run, FYM behaved similarly to urea, and better than SLU. Even N supply rates as high as 250 kg N ha⁻¹ were justified by high rates of crop removal. In fact, among the terms of the mass-balance equation, SOM mineralization was found to be most relevant, followed by meadow rotation residual effects. We conclude that a revised Nitrates Directives application scheme could be more relaxed in its application limit of manure-N, but should be more ambitious in setting efficiency coefficients for manure fertilization.     

Estimation of phenotypic variability in symbiotic nitrogen fixation ability of common bean under drought stress using 15N natural abundance in grain

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the most important food legume, cultivated by small farmers and is usually exposed to unfavorable conditions with minimum use of inputs. Drought and low soil fertility, especially phosphorus and nitrogen (N) deficiencies, are major limitations to bean yield in smallholder systems. Beans can derive part of their required N from the atmosphere through symbiotic nitrogen fixation (SNF). Drought stress severely limits SNF ability of plants. The main objectives of this study were to: (i) test and validate the use of ¹⁵N natural abundance in grain to quantify phenotypic differences in SNF ability for its implementation in breeding programs of common bean with bush growth habit aiming to improve SNF, and (ii) quantify phenotypic differences in SNF under drought to identify superior genotypes that could serve as parents. Field studies were conducted at CIAT-Palmira, Colombia using a set of 36 bean genotypes belonging to the Middle American gene pool for evaluation in two seasons with two levels of water supply (irrigated and drought stress). We used ¹⁵N natural abundance method to compare SNF ability estimated from shoot tissue sampled at mid-pod filling growth stage vs. grain tissue sampled at harvest. Our results showed positive and significant correlation between nitrogen derived from the atmosphere (%Ndfa) estimated using shoot tissue at mid-pod filling and %Ndfa estimated using grain tissue at harvest. Both methods showed phenotypic variability in SNF ability under both drought and irrigated conditions and a significant reduction in SNF ability was observed under drought stress. We suggest that the method of estimating Ndfa using grain tissue (Ndfa-G) could be applied in bean breeding programs to improve SNF ability. Using this method of Ndfa-G, we identified four bean lines (RCB 593, SEA 15, NCB 226 and BFS 29) that combine greater SNF ability with greater grain yield under drought stress and these could serve as potential parents to further improve SNF ability of common bean.     

施氮对高寒区垂穗披碱草饲草生产性能及营养品质的影响

为探究高寒区施氮对垂穗披碱草饲草生产性能和营养品质的影响,本研究以建植第二年的垂穗披碱草（Elymus nutans）为研究对象,设置不同施氮处理：即纯氮N0（0 kg·hm^-2）,N10（100 kg·hm^-2）,N15（150 kg·hm^-2）,N20（200 kg·hm^-2）,N25（250 kg·hm^-2）,N30（300 kg·hm^-2）处理,旨在确定高寒区垂穗披碱草刈割型草地的合理施氮量。结果表明：施氮处理提高了垂穗披碱草的生产性能,显著增加了垂穗披碱草的分蘖数、株高和干草产量,其中干草产量较不施氮处理的平均增幅为48.34%;并且施氮处理能够改善垂穗披碱草的营养品质,显著提高了其粗蛋白（Crude protein,CP）、粗脂肪（Ether extract,EE）、淀粉含量,其中粗蛋白含量较不施氮处理的平均增幅为49.67%。中性洗涤纤维（Neutral detergent fiber,NDF）,酸性洗涤纤维（Acid detergent fiber,ADF）和粗纤维（Crude fiber,CF）含量随施氮量的增加呈先降低后升高趋势;一定的施氮处理（N10,N15,N20,N25）显著降低杂草的株高和密度,在N25处理下冷地早熟禾（Poa crymophila）、芸香叶唐松草（Thalictrum rutifolium）和沼生水马齿（Callitriche palustris L.）的密度较不施肥处理分别降低了27.52%,57.69%和35.21%,施氮处理能够有效抑制非播种草种的生长。综合分析得出,在果洛高寒区施氮量为250 kg·hm^-2时,垂穗披碱草的产草量和品质最优,且经济效益最好。     

施用不同氮肥对盐碱地湖南稷子生产性能以及养分吸收的影响

为探讨盐碱地湖南稷子(Echinochloa frumentacea)高效生产的最佳施氮种类和施氮量,采用单因素随机区组设计,通过在湖南稷子拔节期设置不施肥(CK)、尿素和硫酸铵(N1,N2)轻施肥(F1:50 kg·hm^-2)、中施肥(F2:100 kg·hm^-2)、重施肥处理(F3:150 kg·hm^-2),研究不同氮肥和施氮水平下湖南稷子田间农艺性状、养分吸收及氮肥利用率的变化,探讨盐碱地湖南稷子实现高效生产的适宜氮肥和施氮量。结果表明：与对照相比,施氮量为F2和F3时能够显著提高盐碱地湖南稷子产量及氮磷钾吸收量(P<0.05),植株不同部位氮含量上升,施氮量F3时能够显著提高氮肥利用效率(P<0.05),且同一施氮量下追施硫酸铵后湖南稷子产量、养分吸收及氮肥利用率均高于尿素。综上所述,氮肥追施量在150 kg·hm^-2时,有利于盐碱地湖南稷子的产量的提升和养分的吸收,且同一条件下追施硫酸铵较追施尿素效果显著。     

多梯度氮磷添加对高寒草甸植物群落生物量与氮磷含量的影响

为研究不同梯度氮、磷单独及混合添加对高寒草甸植物群落生物量、植物养分含量及化学计量比的影响,本实验分析了青海省门源县典型高寒草甸植物群落地上总生物量,功能群水平地上生物量,植物全氮、全磷含量及氮磷比对多梯度氮、磷添加的响应情况。结果表明：氮、磷添加均对群落地上生物量影响极显著(P<0.001);氮添加对禾草类和豆科生物量影响极显著(P<0.001);磷添加对禾草类和莎草类生物量影响极显著(P<0.001);氮磷交互作用对豆科和莎草类生物量影响显著(P<0.05)。群落水平上,氮添加显著提高了植物全氮含量,对植物氮磷比(N∶P)有正效应,磷添加显著提高了植物全磷含量,对植物N∶P有负效应,植物全磷对N∶P的负效应大于全氮对N∶P的正效应。本研究表明氮、磷添加可能会使高寒草甸植物群落组成和植物养分含量发生改变,植物群落逐渐向禾草类发展;此外,高寒草甸植物生长趋向于受氮磷共同限制。