Abstract
Aim of study: A field study was conducted to assess responses of soil organic C (SOC) and total N (TN) to film mulching and manure, which were important in identifying the changes of SOC and TN.Area of study: A semiarid area in northwestern China.Material and methods: The field (soil classified as CumuliUstic Isohumosol) has been planted with spring maize (Zea mays L.) for years. Three treatments were: 1) NPK fertilization and no film mulching (CK), 2) NPK fertilization and film mulching (PF) and 3) film mulching and NPK fertilization combined with cow manure (OMF).Main results: Compared with CK, OMF significantly increased SOC and TN, while no significant effect was observed under PF. The average increases of SOC storage in OMF were 39.2% in 0-10 cm layer and 34.3% in 10-20 cm layer. The average increases of TN storage were 37.6% in 0-10 cm layer and 31.3% in 10-20 cm layer, relative to CK. Compared with the initial SOC (8.86 g/kg) and TN (0.99 g/kg), CK and PF decreased 1.4% and 6.9% of SOC, and 9.1% and 17.2% of TN, whereas OMF increased SOC and TN. The SOC/TN was not affected by treatments but slight increase was observed since the beginning of experiment. Both PF and OMF significantly increased maize grain yields (on average 45.8% and 75.7%, respectively) compared with CK.Research highlights: Manure combined with film mulching significantly increased soil C and N, ameliorating harmful effects of plastic film mulching, improving soil fertility in the long term and increasing crop yields.
Highlights
Soil organic C (SOC) plays a key role in maintaining soil properties and sustaining productivity of agroecosystems
No significant influence of treatment and cropping year was observed for SOCS/TNS
Ranging from 1.19 Mg/ha to 1.72 Mg/ha, OMF treatment significantly increased the average TNS by 37.6%
Summary
Soil organic C (SOC) plays a key role in maintaining soil properties and sustaining productivity of agroecosystems. Conservation of the quantity and quality of SOC is considered to be a component of sustainable soil management and maintenance of soil quality (Ouédraogo et al, 2007). What’s more, SOC is of vital importance in global C cycling (Chappell et al, 2013). Maintain the SOC at a higher level in farmland would be benefit to sustaining food productivity and mitigating climate change (Wang et al, 2015). The SOC level in any given soil is determined by the balance between the organic C inputs and outputs. The different agricultural practices would cause changes of SOC via affecting soil temperature, soil water content and bulk density (Smith, 2008). Plastic film mulching has been widely adopted to increase crop yield and biomass production
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