Elsevier

Pedosphere

Volume 27, Issue 5, October 2017, Pages 957-967
Pedosphere

Effects of Integrated Soil-Crop System Management on Soil Organic Carbon Characteristics in a Primosol in Northeast China

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1002-0160(17)60474-0Get rights and content

Abstract

A synchronous increase in crop productivity, nutrient use efficiency, and soil carbon (C) sequestration is important from the point of view of food security and environmental protection. In recent years, integrated soil-crop system management (ISSM), which uses crop models and advanced nutrient management to redesign cropping systems, has been successfully demonstrated to achieve both high crop productivity and high nutrient use efficiency in China, but the effects of ISSM on soil organic C (SOC) characteristics remain unknown. In this study, the effects of current farmers' practice (FP), high-yielding practice (HY), which maximizes yields without considering costs, and ISSM on the content and chemical composition of SOC were studied in a 4-year (2009–2013) field plot experiment with maize (Zea mays L.) monoculture in an Alluvic Primosol in Northeast China. The ISSM resulted in higher soil total organic C (TOC), water-soluble organic C, easily-oxidizable organic C, particulate organic C, and humic acid C compared with HY and FP in the region. The SOC contents in aggregate size fractions generally followed a similar pattern to TOC. Compared with FP, HY decreased the mean weight diameter, geometric mean diameter, percentage of > 0.25-mm water-stable aggregates, and the stability ratio of water-stable aggregates, and increased the structure-deterioration rate and index of unstable aggregates. The opposite trend was observed between ISSM and HY. Solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of bulk soil showed that ISSM had higher O-alkyl C and aliphatic C/aromatic C ratio, but lower aromatic C, carbonyl C, and alkyl C/O-alkyl C and hydrophobic C/hydrophilic C ratios than HY and FP. Our results suggest that ISSM improves the quantity and quality of SOC and has a positive effect on soil aggregation and aggregate stability.

References (62)

  • Y He et al.

    Assessing management impacts on soil organic matter quality in subtropical Australian forests using physical and chemical fractionation as well as 13C NMR spectroscopy

    Soil Biol Biochem

    (2009)
  • Y Kavdır et al.

    Soil aggregate stability and 13C CP/MAS-NMR assessment of organic matter in soils influenced by forest wildfires in Çanakkale, Turkey

    Geoderma

    (2005)
  • S A Khan et al.

    The myth of nitrogen fertilization for soil carbon sequestration

    J Environ Qual

    (2007)
  • R Kiem et al.

    Refractory organic carbon in C-depleted arable soils, as studied by 13C NMR spectroscopy and carbohydrate analysis

    Org Geochem

    (2000)
  • I Kögel-Knabner

    13C and 15N NMR spectroscopy as a tool in soil organic matter studies

    Geoderma

    (1997)
  • I Kögel-Knabner

    The macromolecular organic composition of plant and microbial residues as inputs to soil organic matter

    Soil Biol Biochem

    (2002)
  • R Lal

    Sequestering carbon in soils of agro-ecosystems

    Food Policy

    (2011)
  • M Y Liu et al.

    Aggregation and soil organic carbon fractions under different land uses on the tableland of the Loess Plateau of China

    Catena

    (2014)
  • L Ma et al.

    Long-term effects of inorganic and organic amendments on organic carbon in a paddy soil of the Taihu Lake region, China

    Pedosphere

    (2011)
  • Q F Meng et al.

    Understanding production potentials and yield gaps in intensive maize production in China

    Field Crops Res

    (2013)
  • P Puget et al.

    Nature of carbohydrates associated with water-stable aggregates of two cultivated soils

    Soil Biol Biochem

    (1998)
  • J J Qiu et al.

    Modeling the impacts of soil organic carbon content of croplands on crop yields in China

    Agric Sci China

    (2009)
  • S J Qiu et al.

    Long-term effects of potassium fertilization on yield, efficiency, and soil fertility status in a rain-fed maize system in Northeast China

    Field Crops Res

    (2014)
  • J B Shen et al.

    Transforming agriculture in China: From solely high yield to both high yield and high resource use efficiency

    Global Food Secur

    (2013)
  • J Six et al.

    Soil macroaggregate turnover and microaggregate formation: a mechanism for C sequestration under no-tillage agriculture

    Soil Biol Biochem

    (2000)
  • X Y Song et al.

    Carbon sequestration in soil humic substances under long-term fertilization in a wheat-maize system from North China

    J Integr Agr

    (2014)
  • W Wang et al.

    Effects of long-term fertilization on the distribution of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in water-stable aggregates in paddy soil

    Agric Sci China

    (2011)
  • X H Wang et al.

    Divergence of climate impacts on maize yield in Northeast China

    Agric Ecosyst Environ

    (2014)
  • R Wennersten et al.

    The future potential for carbon capture and storage in climate change mitigation—an overview from perspectives of technology, economy and risk

    J Clean Prod

    (2015)
  • A Williams et al.

    The effects of 55 years of different inorganic fertiliser regimes on soil properties and microbial community composition

    Soil Biol Biochem

    (2013)
  • X Yan et al.

    Carbon sequestration efficiency in paddy soil and upland soil under long-term fertilization in southern China

    Soil Till Res

    (2013)
  • Cited by (0)

    View full text