Residual effects of four-year amendments of organic material on N2O production driven by ammonia-oxidizing archaea and bacteria in a tropical vegetable soil

Abstract

Organic material (OM) applied to cropland not only enhances soil fertility but also profoundly affects soil nitrogen cycling. However, little is known about the relative contributions of soil ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB) to nitrous oxide (N2O) production during ammonia oxidation in response to the additions of diverse types of OMs in the tropical soil for vegetable production. Herein, the soils were sampled from a tropical vegetable field subjected to 4-year consecutive amendments of straw or manure. All the soils were amended with ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4, applied at a dose of 150 mg N kg−1) and incubated aerobically for four weeks under 50% water holding capacity. 1-octyne or acetylene inhibition technique was used to differentiate the relative contributions of AOA and AOB to N2O production. Results showed that AOA dominated N2O production in soil managements of unfertilized control (CK), chemical fertilization (NPK), and NPK with straw (NPKS), whereas AOB contributed more in soil under NPK with manure (NPKM). Straw addition stimulated AOA-dependent N2O production by 94.8% despite the decreased AOA-amoA abundance. Moreover, manure incorporation triggered both AOA- and AOB-dependent N2O production by 147.2% and 233.7%, respectively, accompanied with increased AOA and AOB abundances. Those stimulating effects were stronger for AOB, owing to its sensitivity to the alleviated soil acidification and decreased soil C/N ratio. Our findings highlight the stimulated N2O emissions during ammonia oxidation by historical OM amendments in tropical vegetable soil, with the magnitude of those priming effects dependent on the types of OM, and appropriate measures need to be taken to counter this challenge in tropical agriculture ecosystems.