Effects of different nitrogen application rates on soil water stable aggregates and N2O emission in winter wheat field.

Abstract

Excessive nitrogen application would deteriorate soil structure and increase greenhouse gas emission. We set up six treatments, i.e., N0, N120, N180, N240, N300and N360(nitrogen application rates of 0, 120, 180, 240, 300 and 360 kg·hm-2, all straws returned into the field in situ) in the nitrogen fertilizer experimental site to investigate the effects of different nitrogen application rates on soil N2O emission, soil water-filled porosity (WFPS), soil temperature, nitrate and ammonium contents, composition and stability of water stable aggregates in winter wheat filed in 2018-2020. The results showed that there was a significant positive correlation between soil N2O emission and nitrogen application rate. There was no correlation between WFPS and nitrogen application rate. Soil temperature in the 0-10 cm layer decreased significantly with the increases of nitrogen application rates. There was a significant positive correlation between nitrate and ammonium contents and nitrogen application rate. With the increases of nitrogen application rates, the content of water stable aggregates with diameter >2 mm decreased, while that of water-stable aggregates with diameter <0.5 mm increased. The particle size of soil water-stable aggregates also decreased gradually. There was a significant negative correlation between nitrogen application rate with mean weight diameter (MWD) and geometric mean diameter, while no correlation with fractal dimension. The fitting equation between MWD and N2O emission flux was y=3928.3e-2.171x (R2=0.55, P<0.001), indicating that N2O emission increased markedly as MWD decreasing. The increases in nitrogen application rate reduced soil temperature in the 0-10 cm layer, increased nitrate and ammonium contents, decreased the average particle size of soil water stable aggregates, and the stability of soil aggregates, and increased soil N2O emission.