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23-year manure and fertilizer application increases soil organic carbon sequestration of a rice–barley cropping system

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Abstract

Fertilizer application can potentially change soil organic C (SOC) sequestration of croplands. However, how fertilization affects SOC sequestration and soil C fractions has not been sufficiently investigated. Here, we studied this issue in a rice–barley system of eastern China after 23-year repeated organic and chemical fertilizer amendments. The fertilization treatments were as follows: unfertilized control (CK), pig manure (M), chemical fertilizer NPK (NPK), and pig manure combined with NPK (MNPK). Our results showed that M, NPK, and MNPK significantly increased 25, 13, and 30 % of SOC content as compared with CK. Compared with CK, the three fertilizations, especially manure addition, significantly increased the content of SOC fractions such as microbial biomass C, dissolved organic C, labile organic C, and particulate organic C. Compared with the initial SOC stock at 0–20-cm depth (41.2 Mg C ha−1), M, NPK, and MNPK increased 11, 1, and 16 % of SOC storage, respectively, whereas CK decreased 9 % of SOC pool. The SOC sequestration was positively correlated with the cumulative C input (root residue-C + manure-C) (SOC sequestration = 0.21 × C input − 5.67, R 2 = 0.88, P < 0.001). This linear relationship suggested that (i) the soil had not reached a SOC saturation, (ii) the conversion rate from input-C to SOC was 21 %, and (iii) a C input threshold of 1.17 Mg C ha−1 year−1 was needed for maintaining the initial SOC level. Therefore, manure application is recommended for promoting SOC sequestration in the rice–barley cropping system of eastern China.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. Paolo Nannipieri and two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments that improved this article. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41201288, 41361068, 31300381), the Innovation Team Training Plan of the Tianjin Education Committee (TD12-5037), and the State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology (LFSE2013-04).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tianjin Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Environment, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, 300387, China

    Yidong Wang & Zhong-Liang Wang

  2. Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 100081, Beijing, China

    Ning Hu & Yilai Lou

  3. Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 100081, Beijing, China

    Minggang Xu

  4. Chemistry and Bioengineering College, Hezhou University, Hezhou, 542899, China

    Zhongfang Li

  5. State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110016, China

    Yilai Lou

  6. Institute of Environmental Resources and Soil Fertilizer, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, 310021, China

    Yi Chen & Chunyan Wu

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  1. Yidong Wang
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Correspondence to Zhongfang Li or Yilai Lou.

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Yidong Wang and Ning Hu contributed equally to this work.

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Wang, Y., Hu, N., Xu, M. et al. 23-year manure and fertilizer application increases soil organic carbon sequestration of a rice–barley cropping system. Biol Fertil Soils 51, 583–591 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-015-1007-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-015-1007-2

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