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Improving poor physical structural components has been gaining increasing recognition for its role in enhancing soil fertility. This study was conducted to identify the key physical structural barriers for soil fertility and their effects on crop productivity in Aquic Inceptisol. Based on the strip sampling in Fengqiu County, arable soils from 0–0.40 m profile pits were collected to determine the physical structural components including plough layer thickness, textural composition, soil aggregation and bulk density, as well as stocks of soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP). The grain yields of wheat and maize and amounts of fertilizer applications were also investigated. The tested soil was dominated by a plough layer of 0.15–0.18 m and sandy loam texture, which constituted 50% and 59%, respectively, of the studied profile pits. Compared to the soil with

Excessive application of nitrogen fertilizer has caused the reduction of nitrogen fertilizer utilization efficiency, resource waste and environmental problems in our country. There are disadvantages of long sampling and heavy workload using the traditional methods of acid absorption and box method for farmland ammonia volatilization measurement. In order to meet the application needs for on-line automatic measurement of ammonia volatilization in farmland, an in-situ automatic measurement device for ammonia volatilization was designed combined with laser spectroscopy technology. The main body of the measurement device is an integrated sampling box, with the advantages of long optical path measurement, heat resistance and corrosion resistance. The control circuit of the sampling box used ARM as the main controller for environmental data monitoring, automatic opening and closing of the cover and lens temperature controlling. The ammonia volatilization results were analyzed by the data acquisition and processing system after the laser passed through the sampling box to obtain ammonia spectroscopy signal. The device was used for observation at Fengqiu Ecological Station, CAS. The results showed that the ammonia volatilization rose rapidly after 90 minutes for nitrogen fertilizer applying, and it decreased gradually to a low value after 270 minutes. According to the experimental results, the continuous measurement time for cover closing can be set to 3 minutes, and the cover opening time can be set to 3 to 5 minutes. The working performance of the automatic measurement device was verified through these experiments, with the advantages of low power consumption, high measurement sensitivity, and no gas sampling. It realizes insitu automatic measurement for ammonia volatilization in farmland with the natural respiration condition of the soil.

A field experiment was conducted to assess the accuracy of the backward Lagrangian stochastic (BLS) model combined with an open-path tunable diode laser (OPTDL) system for estimating ammonia emissions from rice field by comparing with the micrometeorological mass balance (MMB) method. During the experimental period, the average height of rice was 0.65 m, and the average height of laser path was 1.3 m. The results showed that there was no significant difference between the ammonia emission rates estimated by the two methods, indicating no significant effect of tall rice on the accuracy of the BLS model. The high temporal resolution data showed that ammonia emissions had a dramatic diurnal cycle: rise at daytime and fall at night. Although the OPTDL technique was not able to measure ammonia concentrations at low emission rates due to relatively high detection limit, the total ammonia loss estimated by the BLS model was not significant different from that of the MMB method. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the BLS model with the OPTDL technique for estimating ammonia emissions from farmland covered with tall vegetation. Within the acceptable accuracy, the relatively low laser path height is recommended for farmland with tall vegetation due to relatively high detection limit of the OPTDL technique and low ammonia concentration of farmland.

Conservation tillage has been gaining increasing recognition for its role in improving soil quality and maintaining agricultural sustainability. This is the first in a series of papers describing the impacts of reduced/no-tillage with and without residue based on the field experiment in the North China Plain. The experiment was established in 2006 on a sandy loam soil and involved a winter wheat-summer maize rotation system per year. The objective of this study was to investigate the impacts of different conservation tillage systems on crop yield and soil fertility that was quantified by a minimum data set and integrated index. Soil samples were collected since 2011, and the stocks of soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (TN), alkali-hydrolyzale nitrogen (AN), total phosphorus (TP), available phosphorus (AP), total potassium (TK) and available potassium (AK) were measured for each year as well as soil aggregates were fractionated for 2016. Compared to continuous tillage, the reduced/no-tillage, regardless of residue, significantly increased the macroaggregate mass and soil nutrient stocks at the 0–10 cm depth, while further improvements in these soil attributes apart from TK were observed at the 0–10 and 10–20 cm depths for residue returning relative to residue removing. The accumulations of soil nutrients were closely related to soil macroaggregation. The path analysis revealed that TN was the most important soil attribute to directly determine wheat and maize yields while other soil attributes apart for TK primarily made indirect contributions to the yields. The first two factors extracted using 8 soil attributes through factor analysis were selected as the integrated indicators for the minimum data set, and their integrated score was calculated to quantify soil fertility. It was found that reduced/no-tillage did not improved soil fertility at the 0–20 cm depth. Consequently, an average 6.9% decrease in wheat yield across all years was observed under no-tillage while reduced tillage only increased the yield in the first two years in a periodic reduced tillage event. No significant difference was observed for the mean maize yield among the three tillage regimes averaged across all years and residue managements. Wheat and maize yields were significantly correlated with the integrated score for soil fertility, and thus significant increases in grain yields of wheat and maize were observed for residue returning. It can be concluded that grain yields of wheat and maize within a given residue management practice were not significantly higher for reduced/no-tillage than continuous tillage, regardless of the effects of tillage on aggregates and soil nutrients.

Irrigation and nitrogen (N) fertilization in excess of crop requirements are responsible for substantial nitrate accumulation in the soil profile and contamination of groundwater by nitrate leaching during intensive agricultural production. In this on-farm field trial, we compared 16 different water and N treatments on nitrate accumulation and its distribution in the soil profile (0-180cm), nitrate leaching potential, and groundwater nitrate concentration within a summer-maize (Zea mays L.) and winter-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) rotation system in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain over five cropping cycles (2006-2010). The results indicated that nitrate remaining in the soil profile after crop harvest and nitrate concentration of soil solutions at two depths (80cm and 180cm) declined with increasing irrigation amounts and increased greatly with increasing N application rates, especially for seasonal N application rates higher than 190kgNha-1. During the experimental period, continuous torrential rainfall was the main cause for nitrate leaching beyond the root zone (180cm), which could pose potential risks for contamination of groundwater. Nitrate concentration of groundwater varied from 0.2 to 2.9mgL-1, which was lower than the limit of 10mgL-1 as the maximum safe level for drinking water. In view of the balance between grain production and environmental consequences, seasonal N application rates of 190kgNha-1 and 150kgNha-1 were recommended for winter wheat and summer maize, respectively. Irrigation to the field capacity of 0-40cm and 0-60cm soil depth could be appropriate for maize and wheat, respectively. Therefore, taking grain yields, mineral N accumulation in the soil profile, nitrate leaching potential, and groundwater quality into account, coupled water and N management could provide an opportunity to promote grain production while reducing negative environmental impacts in this region.

Conservation tillage is not only beneficial to the improvement of integrated soil fertility and crop yield, but also plays a pivotal role in the achievement of ecological agricultural production. Based on a continuous 10-year conservation tillage experiment in the North China Plain, this paper aimed to investigate the effects on soil respiration and net carbon (C) flux in the wheat-maize cropping system, and to identify the physicochemical controls of soil respiration C emission under different tillage and residue managements. Results showed that soil respiration was generally determined by soil temperature, with the lowest and highest rates of 0.50 and 6.54 μmol CO2-C m−2 s-1 in January and July, respectively. Compared with continuous tillage, the reduced/no-tillage without residue significantly reduced soil respiration rate and the cumulative CO2 emissions, which was principally due to the increased bulk density and decreased effective gas diffusivity according to the redundancy analysis. Whereas, over 90 % increases in soil respiration C emission could be ascribed to the accumulation of organic C, especially for the labile fraction, under residue returning than under residue removing. Additionally, the increased organic C stock in topsoil possibly accounted for the accelerated respiration C emission under reduced/no-tillage with residues. From the perspective of net C flux, it was suggested that decreasing tillage intensity generally reduced the C emissions from agricultural inputs by 11.0 %, while those were increased on average by 7.7 % through implementing residue crushing under residue returning relative to residue removing. Residue returning also increased the mean annual organic C accumulation rate by 115.2 % at the 0–20 cm depth. Collectively, each of the tillage and residue management served as small net C source, but reduced/no-tillage with residues significantly decreased the net C flux while increasing the sustainability and C productivity indexes for wheat-maize cropping system.

This paper was primarily devoted to reveal the stock of soil organic carbon (C) as well as its lability and to compare their differences existing among tillage and residue practices, aiming to identify the effects on the accumulation process of organic C and its association with macroaggregation. Arable soils following 8-year contrasting managements were collected to determine aggregate size distribution, organic C content and its lability. A wet-sieving method was used to fractionate aggregate fractions including > 2000 μm large macroaggregates, 2000–250 μm small macroaggregates, 250–53 μm microaggregates, and

The rate of ammonia emissions from a small circular plot of maize was estimated by three procedures: (i) by inverse dispersion (based on upwind and downwind laser concentration-detectors interpreted using a backward Lagrangian stochastic model); (ii) by the height-integrated horizontal flux measured by point flux-detectors arrayed along the axis of the plot (i.e., the integrated horizontal flux method, IHF); and (iii) by extrapolation from static flux chambers (SC). The results indicated that the estimates made by the open-path tunable diode laser (OPTDL) system combined with the backward Lagrangian stochastic (BLS) model were statistically equivalent to those made by the IHF method. The ammonia fluxes estimated by the OPTDL-BLS technique were only 2.3% higher than those from the IHF method. Although the OPTDL technique failed to monitor concentration differences at low ammonia fluxes due to its detection limit, the OPTDL-BLS technique estimated the total ammonia loss to be only 10.9% less than the IHF results. The SC method was found to underestimate ammonia emissions and cumulative ammonia loss significantly compared with both the OPTDL-BLS and IHF methods Although the ammonia emissions estimated by the OPTDL-BLS technique showed a similar emission pattern to those estimated by the IHF method, the former provided an opportunity to estimate the diurnal pattern of ammonia emissions and to understanding the primary driving factors. A clear diurnal cycle and a dominant net solar radiation dependence in ammonia emissions were found.

Ammonia emission is one of the dominant pathways of nitrogen fertilizer loss from rice fields in China. It is difficult to measure ammonia emissions by high-frequency sampling with the chamber methods widely used in China, which is of great significance for investigating the environmental effects on the ammonia emissions. The chamber methods also can not accurately determine the ammonia emissions. In this study, the backward Lagrangian stochastic dispersion model, with ammonia concentrations continuously measured by the open-path tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy technique, was used to determine ammonia emissions from a rice field after fertilizer application at excessive (270 kg N ha−1) and appropriate (210 kg N ha−1) rates in the Taihu Lake Region of China. High temporal resolution measurements of ammonia emissions revealed that high intraday fluctuations of ammonia emissions were significantly affected by the meteorological conditions. Multiple regression analysis showed a dominant solar radiation dependence of intraday ammonia emission cycles, especially during the rice panicle formation stage. The NH4+-N concentrations of the surface water of the rice field were found to be the decisive factor that influenced interday dynamics of ammonia emissions. Accurate quantifications of ammonia emissions indicated that the total ammonia losses under appropriate nitrogen application rate were 27.4 kg N ha−1 during the rice tillering stage and 11.2 kg N ha−1 during the panicle formation stage, which were 29.4% and 17.0% less than those under traditional excessive nitrogen application rate used by the local farmers, respectively. The ammonia loss proportions during the rice panicle formation stage were significantly lower than those of the tillering stage, which might be due to different nitrogen application rates and environmental effects during the two stages. This study indicated that the open-path tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy technique could facilitate the investigation of high temporal resolution dynamic of ammonia emissions from farmland and the environmental influence on the ammonia emissions.

Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition, an important N source to agro-ecosystems, has increased intensively in China during recent decades. However, knowledge on temporal variations of total N deposition and their influencing factors is limited due to lack of systematic monitoring data. In this study, total N deposition, including dry and wet components, was monitored using the water surrogate surface method for a typical agro-ecosystem with a winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and summer maize (Zea mays L.) rotation system in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain from May 2008 to April 2012. The results indicated that annual total N deposition ranged from 23.8 kg N ha−1 (2009–2010) to 40.3 kg N ha−1 (2008–2009) and averaged 31.8 kg N ha−1. Great inter-annual variations were observed during the sampling period, due to differences in annual rainfall and gaseous N losses from farmlands. Monthly total N deposition varied greatly, from less than 0.6 kg N ha−1 (January, 2010) to over 8.0 kg N ha−1 (August, 2008), with a mean value of 2.6 kg N ha−1. In contrast to wet deposition, dry portions generally contributed more to the total, except in the precipitation-intensive months, accounting for 65% in average. NH 4 + -N was the dominant species in N deposition and its contribution to total deposition varied from 6% (December, 2009) to 79% (July, 2008), averaging 53%. The role of organic N (O–N) in both dry and wet deposition was equal to or even greater than that of NO 3 − -N. Influencing factors such as precipitation and its seasonal distribution, reactive N sources, vegetation status, field management practices, and weather conditions were responsible for the temporal variations of atmospheric N deposition and its components. These results are helpful for reducing the knowledge gaps in the temporal variations of atmospheric N deposition and their influencing factors in different ecosystems, to improve the understandings on N budget in the typical agro-ecosystem, and to provide references and recommendations for field nutrient management in this region.

The backward Lagrangian stochastic (BLS) model for estimating ammonia emissions from agricultural sources was assessed in an ammonia recovery experiment. The open-path tunable diode laser spectrometer was used to measure atmospheric ammonia concentrations. The results indicated that the ratio of estimated to actual emission ( Q BLS / Q ) decreased with increasing concentration measurement height, and the optimum measurement height increased as fetch ( F ) increased. The accuracy of Q BLS was insensitive to fetch with a range of 15–60 m. The optimum ratio of concentration measurement height to fetch decreased with increasing fetch. In this study, the optimum ratio of concentration measurement height to fetch was 0.083 and 0.045 for F = 15 m and F = 30 m, respectively. It is recommended that the laser sensor should be placed as close to the source as possible to reduce concentration measurement uncertainty for measurement of ammonia emission from farmland. The wheat canopy had a significant effect on Q BLS / Q when the concentration measurement height above the wheat canopy was no more than 0.38 m. The laser path should be placed at least 0.58 m above the wheat canopy to minimize the effect of wheat canopy on the accuracy of the BLS model.

Gaseous nitrogen (N) losses are mainly responsible for low N use efficiency of applied fertilizers and their derivative environmental hazards, while N application rates and soil water regime are important factors regulating these N processes. In this study, gaseous N losses via ammonia volatilization (AV) and denitrification, determined by sponge trapping-KCl extraction and acetylene inhibition-soil core incubation, respectively, were investigated under different coupled water-N management practices with a winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and summer maize (Zea mays L.) rotation system in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain. Ammonia volatilization after urea application, particularly after topdressing during maize growing seasons, was the dominant gaseous N loss, amounting up to 53.2 kg N ha−1 (38.6 % of the applied N). Ammonia volatilization generally decreased by increasing irrigation rate applied immediately after fertilization. Denitrification N losses were lower than ammonia-N losses, accounting for 1.3 to 18.7 kg N ha−1 year−1, with more than 90 % occurring during the maize growing seasons. Total gaseous N losses showed a significant (P

Although numerous studies have been conducted on the effects of no-tillage on carbon (C) sequestration in agricultural systems, there is still no consensus on the balance between the potential of C sequestration and nitrous oxide (N2O) or nitric oxide (NO) emissions. A no-tillage field experiment in the North China Plain was established in 2006 and the influence of no-tillage on N2O and NO emissions was monitored under an annual wheat-maize cropping system. The study included four treatments: no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) soils amended with N fertilizer at a rate of 225 kg N ha–1 for wheat and 195 kg N ha–1 for maize (NTN and CTN) and without N fertilizer (NT0 and CT0). Three years of no-tillage significantly (p

Purpose Modern agricultural science has greatly reduced the use of tillage. Monitoring conservation versus conventional tillage effects on soil microbes could improve our understanding of soil biochemical processes and thus help us to develop sound management strategies. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of conservation tillage on the spore community structure and the diversity of soil arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and to find out the main factors that influence these parameters.

Linear mixing models and δ D– δ 18 O plots with stable hydrogen and oxygen isotopes have been widely used to identify water sources consumed by various plants; however, each of these methods is incapable of quantifying the contribution of different water sources used if more than three sources exist simultaneously. In this study, we developed a coupled model to solve this problem and applied it to determine the contribution of various water sources to maize during different growth stages. A field experiment was conducted from June 5 to September 12, 2007. The results revealed that primary water sources for maize varied with growth stages, and that generally more water from deeper depths was used as the plants grew. Additionally, calculation of the coupled model was in accordance with the linear mixing model, which indicated that the coupled model could enable the successful identification of various water sources that contribute the total water used by plants.

In this study, a regional irrigation schedule optimization method was proposed and applied in Fengqiu County in the North China Plain, which often suffers serious soil water drainage and nitrogen (N) leaching problems caused by excessive irrigation. The irrigation scheduling method was established by integrating the ‘checkbook irrigation method’ into a GIS-coupled soil water and nitrogen management model (WNMM) as an extension. The soil water and crop information required by the checkbook method, and previously collected from field observations, was estimated by the WNMM. By replacing manually observed data with simulated data from WNMM, the application range of the checkbook method could be extended from field scale to regional scale. The WNMM and the checkbook irrigation method were both validated by field experiments in the study region. The irrigation experiment in fluvo–aquic soil showed that the checkbook method had excellent performance; soil water drainage and N leaching were reduced by 83.1 and 85.6%, respectively, when compared with local farmers’ flood irrigation. Using the validated WNMM, the performance of checkbook irrigation in an entire winter wheat and summer maize rotation was also validated: the average soil water drainage and N leaching in four types of soils decreased from 331 to 75 mm year−1 and 47.7 to 9.3 kg ha−1 year−1, respectively; and average irrigation water use efficiency increased from 26.5 to 57.2 kg ha−1 mm−1. The regional irrigation schedule optimization method based on WNMM was applied in Fengqiu County. The results showed a good effect on saving irrigation water, decreasing soil water drainage and then saving agricultural inputs. In a typical meteorological year, it could save >110 mm of irrigation water on average, translating to >7.26 × 107 m3 of agricultural water saved each year within the county. Annual soil water drainage was reduced to

The North China Plain, where summer corn (Zea mays L.) and winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) are the major crops grown, is a major agricultural area in China. Permeable soils make the region susceptible to groundwater pollution by NO3-N, which is applied to fields in large amounts of more than 400 kg NO3-N ha−1 as fertilizer. A field experiment was established in 2002 to examine the relationship among N fertilization rate, soil NO3-N, and NO3-N groundwater contamination. Two adjacent fields were fertilized with local farmers' N fertilization rate (LN) and double the normal application rate (HN), respectively, and managed under otherwise identical conditions. The fields were under a traditional summer corn/winter wheat rotation. Over a 22-month period, we monitored NO3-N concentrations in both bulk soil and soil pore water in 20{40 cm increments up to 180 cm depth. We also monitored NO3-N concentrations in groundwater and the depth of the groundwater table. No significant differences in soil NO3-N were observed between the LN and HN treatment. We identified NO3-N plumes moving downward through the soil profile. The HN treatment resulted in significantly higher groundwater NO3-N, relative to the LN treatment, with groundwater NO3-N consistently exceeding the maximum safe level of 10 mg L−1, but groundwater NO3-N above the maximum safe level was also observed in the LN treatment after heavy rain. Heavy rain in June, July, and August 2003 caused increased NO3-N leaching through the soil and elevated NO3-N concentrations in the groundwater. Concurrent rise of the groundwater table into NO3-N- rich soil layers also contributed to the increased NO3-N concentrations in the groundwater. Our results indicate that under conditions of average rainfall, soil NO3-N was accumulated in the soil profile. The subsequent significantly higher-than-average rainfalls continuously flushed the soil NO3-N into deeper layers and raised the groundwater table, which caused continuous groundwater contamination with NO3-N. The results suggest that under common farming practices in the North China Plain, groundwater contamination with NO3-N was likely, especially during heavy rainfalls, and the degree of groundwater contamination appeared to be proportional to the N application rates. Decreasing fertilization rates, splitting fertilizer inputs, and optimizing irrigation scheduling had potential to reduce groundwater NO3-N contamination.

A 2-year field experiment was conducted in an Ochric Aquic Cambosols on a 1-ha field with rotation of winter wheat–summer corn located in Fengqiu County in North China Plain from 1 October 1998 to 30 September 2000 to quantify water balance and evaluate soil water loss by deep drainage and nitrate loss by leaching out of the root zone under the current agricultural practices. Considerable deep drainage was found especially in 1999–2000, during which period up to 273.9 mm of water, accounting for 60.6% of total amount of irrigation and 24.7% of total surface input (rainfall+irrigation), was lost by deep drainage. Even in both wheat cropping seasons when total amount of surface input was less than total actual evapotranspiration, 84.0 and 121.3 mm water was lost by drainage in 1999 and 2000, respectively. Soil NO3−-N was transported to deeper soil layers during the growing seasons and considerable amount of NO3−-N accumulated at 170 cm soil layer (the bottom of root zone) during the September–October period (the harvest time of summer corn) every year. About 28.6 kg N ha−1 was lost by leaching out of the root zone in 1998–1999 and 81.8 kg N ha−1 in 1999–2000, accounting for 5.9% and 15.7% of total nitrogen (N) inputs, respectively. The significant deep drainage and nitrate leaching loss were attributed to excessive and inappropriate irrigation and nitrogen (N) fertilization, which may result in severe groundwater pollution if current agricultural managements are not changed. Keywords: Water balance, Deep drainage, Nitrate leaching, Groundwater pollution

The loess region in northern China is an important area of apple (Pyrus malus L.) and pear (Pyrus communis L.) production due to its favorable soil and climate. In recent years, as the apple and pear production in this region rapidly increased, more orchards experienced iron deficiency chlorosis. However, information on soil nutrient status and fruit tree chlorosis of this region is scarce. In this research, we collected soil and fruit tree leaf samples from 25 pear and apple orchards (10 chlorotic orchards and 15 nonchlorotic orchards). Soil samples were collected at depths of 0-20 cm, 20-40 cm, 40-60 cm, and 60-80 cm. Soil organic matter, total nitrogen (TN), alkali-hydrolyzable N, Olsen-phosphorus (P), ammonium acetate-potassium (K), DTPA-iron (Fe), and less than 0.01-mm soil particle content were analyzed, soil bulk density of 0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, 20-30 cm, and 30-40 cm were also determined. Leaf samples were analyzed for chlorophyll content. Comparison of soil properties was performed between chlorotic orchard soils and nonchlorotic orchard soils; stepwise multiple regression was performed between leaf chlorophyll content and soil properties. The results indicated that those orchard soils were rich in P and K but deficient in Fe. Chlorotic orchard soils contained more K, bicarbonate and less than 0.01-mm soil particles, and less DTPA-Fe in certain layers than those of nonchlorotic orchard soils. Leaf chlorophyll content negatively correlated with soil bicarbonate, alkali-hydrolysable N, and ammonium acetate-K and positively correlated with TN, DTPA-Fe, and bulk density at certain depths. Most of these soil properties that have a significant difference between these two kinds of orchard soils or affect leaf chlorophyll content occur below 40 cm in the soil profile. These results suggested that high bicarbonate content and low available Fe content in soils were the primary causes for fruit tree chlorosis in the loess region. Shallow groundwater table in the chlorotic orchards and root growth impairment in the surface soil because of tillage are supposed to be the reason why deeper depth in soil profile play an important role in fruit tree chlorosis in this region.

Field evapotranspiration is an important component in Soil Plant Atmosphere Continuum (SPAC), and it is comprised of plant transpiration and soil evaporation. However, the two components of which is difficult to partition. A field experiment was conducted in the Northern China to determine the maize transpiration and soil evaporation during a maize growth period using stable oxygen isotope. A water balance model in field was used to estimate the field evapotranspiration. Maize transpiration and soil evaporation were estimated during the five typical growth stages of seedling, jointing, booting, tasseling, and filling-mature, respectively. The results showed that total field evapotranspiration during the whole maize growth period was 481.8 mm and distributed in the five growth stages were 122.7, 81.9, 82.5, 71.5 and 123.2 mm, respectively, and the fraction of maize transpiration in field evapotranspiration in the five growth stages were 11.8%, 65.0%, 78.3%, 81.8%, and 50.02%, respectively.