Soil carbon budget in a single-cropping paddy field with rice straw application and water management based on soil redox potential

Abstract

An ideal state for agroecosystems to mitigate global warming should include both decreasing CO₂ and CH₄ emissions and increasing soil carbon storage. Two-year field experiments were carried out to examine the effects of water management (continuous flooding CF] and Eh control EH]) and rice straw management (application +S] and removal –S]) on the soil carbon budget in a single-cropping paddy field in Japan. The EH water management based on soil redox potential that the authors have proposed decreased the total CH₄ emission during the rice growing period compared with CF. The +S increased CO₂ emission as soil respiration during the non-flooded fallow period compared with –S, but also increased straw residues in the soil. However, there was little evidence for sequential carbon accumulation in the soil over the year by +S. The resultant annual budget of soil carbon was a loss of 32–103 g C m^?2 in the EH+S treatment compared with a loss of 166–188 g C m^?2 in the CF–S treatment. Taking into account the global warming potentials, the EH+S treatment also decreased the total CO₂-equivalent emission compared with the CF–S treatment. Consequently, a combination of appropriate water management and straw application will be an effective option in decreasing both CO₂-equivalent emission and sustaining soil carbon storage.