Deep phosphorus application can be a usefull measure to improve crops＇ performance in semi-arid regions, but more knowledge of both its general effects and effects on specific crops is required to optimize treatments...Deep phosphorus application can be a usefull measure to improve crops＇ performance in semi-arid regions, but more knowledge of both its general effects and effects on specific crops is required to optimize treatments. Thus, the aims of this study were to evaluate the effects of phosphorus（P） application at different soil layers on root growth, grain yield, and water-use efficiency（WUE） of winter wheat grown on the semi-arid Loess Plateau of China and to explore the relationship between root distribution and grain yield. The experiment consisted of four P treatments in a randomized complete block design with three replicates and two cultivars： one drought-sensitive（Xiaoyan 22, XY22） and one drought-tolerant（Changhan 58, CH58）. The four P treatments were no P（control, CK）, surface P（SP）, deep P（DP）, and deep-band P application（DBP）. CH58 produced larger and deeper root systems, and had higher grain yields and WUE, under the deep P treatments（DP and DBP） than under SP, clearly showing that deep P placement had beneficial effects on the drought-tolerant cultivar. In contrast, the grain yield and root growth of XY22 did not differ between DP or DBP and SP treatments. Further, root dry weight（RW） and root length（RL） in deep soil layer（30-100 cm） were closely positively correlated with grain yield and WUE of CH58（but not XY22）, highlighting the connections between a well-developed subsoil root system and both high grain yield and WUE for the drought-tolerant cultivar. WUE correlated strongly with grain yield for both cultivars（r=0.94, P〈0.001）. In conclusion, deep application of P fertilizer is a practical and feasible means of increasing grain yield and WUE of rainfed winter wheat in semi-arid regions, by promoting deep root development of drought-tolerant cultivars.展开更多
Soil samples collected from a 25-year long-term fertilizer experiment carried out on the Earth-cumulic-Orthic Anthrosols in semi-humid farmland ecological system, were used to study the distribution of soil organic ma...Soil samples collected from a 25-year long-term fertilizer experiment carried out on the Earth-cumulic-Orthic Anthrosols in semi-humid farmland ecological system, were used to study the distribution of soil organic matters, total nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, and ammoniate nitrogen in different grades of soil macro-aggregates in order to study the effects of long-term application of organic manures in combination with chemical fertilizers. It is showed that the percentage of mass of the soil macro-aggregates with long-term application of fertilizers with sizes of 5-2 mm is increased compared with that of the samples with no fertilizer. It is easier to form lager size soil macro-aggregates by the long-term application of organic manures in combination with chemical fertilizers. The contents of organic matters, total nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen are all higher after treatments with different combinations of fertilizers, while there is a little effect on the contents of ammoniate nitrogen. The contents of organic matters, total nitrogen in the grades of soil macro-aggregates from the plough layers of the treated farmland exhibited significant difference. Moreover, the contents of organic matters and total nitrogen in the soil macro-aggregates with the size of 1-0.25 mm is the highest in all treated soil samples. The contents of nitrate nitrogen in soil macro-aggregates increased with the increasing of soil macro-aggregate size except those applied with chemical fertilizer and lower amount of corn stover. The results of correlation analysis revealed that there exists a significantly positive correlation between the percentage of mass of soil macro-aggregates with the size of 5-2 mm and the contents of organic matters, total nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen in the soil samples. However, the correlation between the percentage of mass of soil macro-aggregates with the size of 1-0.25 rnm and the contents of total nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen is significantly negative.The study showed that the highest contributing rates of macro-aggregates fractions to soil fertility is from the soil macro-aggregates fraction with the size of 1-0.25 mm in most of the cases.展开更多
Plant growth and crop production depend to a large extent on soil N supplying capacity （SNSC）： The higher the SNSC, the higher the dependence of crops on soil and the lower the N fertilizer recovery. Of the SNSC, s...Plant growth and crop production depend to a large extent on soil N supplying capacity （SNSC）： The higher the SNSC, the higher the dependence of crops on soil and the lower the N fertilizer recovery. Of the SNSC, soil organic N （ON） played a key role in supplying N nutrient to crop production and still does in many subsistence and low-input farming systems. In this paper, soil ON contents, types, chemical components and its contribution to plant production are reviewed up to date in details, the characteristics of ON in dryland soils discussed together with its chemical components, and the mineralization and availability to plants of some important chemical components are emphasized at the last part for practical considerations.展开更多
Temporally irregular rainfall distribution and inefficient rainwater management create severe constraints on crop production in rainfed semiarid areas. Gravel and plastic film mulching are effective methods for improv...Temporally irregular rainfall distribution and inefficient rainwater management create severe constraints on crop production in rainfed semiarid areas. Gravel and plastic film mulching are effective methods for improving agricultural productivity and water utilization. However, the effects of these mulching practices on soil water supply and plant water use associated with crop yield are not well understood. A 3-yr study was conducted to analyze the occurrence and distribution of dry spells in a semiarid region of Northwest China and to evaluate the effects of non-mulching （CK）, gravel mulching （GM） and plastic film mulching （FM） on the soil water supply, plant water use and maize （Zea mays L.） grain yield. Rainfall analysis showed that dry spells of ≥5 days occurred frequently in each of 3 yr, accounting for 59.9-69.2% of the maize growing periods. The 〉15-d dry spells during the jointing stage would expose maize plants to particularly severe water stress. Compared with the CK treatment, both the GM and FM treatments markedly increased soil water storage during the early growing season. In general, the total evapotranspiration （ET） was not significantly different among the three treatments, but the mulched treatments significantly increased the ratio of pre- to post-silking ET, which was closely associated with yield improvement. As a result, the grain yield significantly increased by 17.1, 70.3 and 16.7% for the GM treatment and by 28.3, 87.6 and 38.2% for the FM treatment in 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively, compared with the CK treatment. It＇s concluded that both GM and FM are effective strategies for mitigating the impacts of water deficit and improving maize production in semiarid areas. However. FM is more effective than GM.展开更多
In order to preliminarily look at rules for soil moisture changes in the bank of the gully and to provide some recommendations for vegetative restoration in gully bank regions in the Loess Plateau, changes of soil moi...In order to preliminarily look at rules for soil moisture changes in the bank of the gully and to provide some recommendations for vegetative restoration in gully bank regions in the Loess Plateau, changes of soil moisture with depth and distance to the gully edge and their dynamic changes with time were observed to study the soil water characteristics in the bank of the gully. The results showed that soil water content increased with increasing distance from the gully edge, whereas for the same time period, the closer the distance to the gully wall, the greater the water loss; and that the influential distance of side evaporation decreased as depth increased.展开更多
It is important to study the soluble organic N （SON） extracted during water-logged incubation for evaluating soil Nsupplying capacity. Soil initial SON and mineral N （Nmin）, cumulative soluble organic N and NH4＋-...It is important to study the soluble organic N （SON） extracted during water-logged incubation for evaluating soil Nsupplying capacity. Soil initial SON and mineral N （Nmin）, cumulative soluble organic N and NH4＋-N in leachates during water-logged incubation, mineralization potentials of both easily decomposable N （ND） and resistant N （NR）, and their relationships with N uptake by crop in pot experiment were investigated by using 10 kinds of farmland soils with widely different physical and chemical properties on the Loess Plateau, China, and the effects of SON on evaluating soil Nsupplying capacity were studied. The results showed that the average content of initial SON （23.9 mg kg^-1） of 10 soils was 28.8% of initial total soluble N and 2.4% of soil total N. The percentage of cumulative SON in leaching total soluble N （118.1 mg kg^-1 was 46.4%, higher than the percentage of initial SON （28.8%）, and almost close to the percentage of cumulative NH4^＋-N in the leachates. ND had close correlation with total N, and the correlation coefficients were 0.92 （P 〈 0.01, excluding SON in estimating ND） and 0.88 （P 〈 0.01, including SON in estimating ND）, respectively. N mineralization potential and mineralization rate constant were different with the soil types. ND of Los-Orthic Entisols and Ust-Sandiic Entisols were lower than that of Eum-Orthrosols. Mineralization rate constant for the fast decomposable N-fraction （kD） decreased and the mineralization rate constant of resistant materials （kR） increased when SON was taken into account. Cumulative NH4^＋-N was a better evaluation index of soil N-supplying capacity, and it is not only suitable for the first season crops but also for two successive season crops. Cumulative SON alone was not a satisfactory index for the potential of mineralizable N. But it would be more accurate for ND in revealing the potential mineralizable N when SON was taken into account. Cumulative TSN, to some extent, could also be taken as an index for the potential mineralizable N. Cumulative NH4＋-N, total soluble N, and ND were good indexes for estimating soil potential mineralizable N, especially for soils of two successive season crops. And cumulative total soluble N and ND in evaluating the permanence of soil N-supply is of greater significance when SON was included.展开更多
To better understand the effects of plastic film mulching on soil greenhouse gases（GHGs） emissions,we compared seasonal and vertical variations of GHG concentrations at seven soil depths in maize（Zea mays L.） fiel...To better understand the effects of plastic film mulching on soil greenhouse gases（GHGs） emissions,we compared seasonal and vertical variations of GHG concentrations at seven soil depths in maize（Zea mays L.） fields at Changwu station in Shaanxi,a semi-humid region,between 2012 and 2013.Gas samples were taken simultaneously every one week from non-mulched（BP） and plastic film-mulched（FM） field plots.The results showed that the concentration of GHGs varied distinctly at the soil-atmosphere interface and in the soil profile during the maize growing season（MS）.Both carbon dioxide（CO_2） and nitrous oxide（N_2O） concentrations increased with increasement of soil depth,while the methane（CH_4）concentrations decreased with increasement of soil depth.A strong seasonal variation pattern was found for CO_2 and N_2O concentrations,as compared to an inconspicuous seasonal variation of CH_4 concentrations.The mean CO_2 and N_2O concentrations were higher,but the mean CH_4 concentration in the soil profiles was lower in the FM plots than in the BP plots.The results of this study suggested that plastic film mulching significantly increased the potential emissions of CO_2and N_2O from the soil,and promoted CH_4 absorption by the soil,particularly during the MS.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31270553)the National 973 Program of China(2009CB118604)the Special Fund for Agro-Scientific Research in the Public Interest of China(201103003)
文摘Deep phosphorus application can be a usefull measure to improve crops＇ performance in semi-arid regions, but more knowledge of both its general effects and effects on specific crops is required to optimize treatments. Thus, the aims of this study were to evaluate the effects of phosphorus（P） application at different soil layers on root growth, grain yield, and water-use efficiency（WUE） of winter wheat grown on the semi-arid Loess Plateau of China and to explore the relationship between root distribution and grain yield. The experiment consisted of four P treatments in a randomized complete block design with three replicates and two cultivars： one drought-sensitive（Xiaoyan 22, XY22） and one drought-tolerant（Changhan 58, CH58）. The four P treatments were no P（control, CK）, surface P（SP）, deep P（DP）, and deep-band P application（DBP）. CH58 produced larger and deeper root systems, and had higher grain yields and WUE, under the deep P treatments（DP and DBP） than under SP, clearly showing that deep P placement had beneficial effects on the drought-tolerant cultivar. In contrast, the grain yield and root growth of XY22 did not differ between DP or DBP and SP treatments. Further, root dry weight（RW） and root length（RL） in deep soil layer（30-100 cm） were closely positively correlated with grain yield and WUE of CH58（but not XY22）, highlighting the connections between a well-developed subsoil root system and both high grain yield and WUE for the drought-tolerant cultivar. WUE correlated strongly with grain yield for both cultivars（r=0.94, P〈0.001）. In conclusion, deep application of P fertilizer is a practical and feasible means of increasing grain yield and WUE of rainfed winter wheat in semi-arid regions, by promoting deep root development of drought-tolerant cultivars.
基金The study was supported by the National Natural Sci—ence Foundation of China(30571116)．
文摘Soil samples collected from a 25-year long-term fertilizer experiment carried out on the Earth-cumulic-Orthic Anthrosols in semi-humid farmland ecological system, were used to study the distribution of soil organic matters, total nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, and ammoniate nitrogen in different grades of soil macro-aggregates in order to study the effects of long-term application of organic manures in combination with chemical fertilizers. It is showed that the percentage of mass of the soil macro-aggregates with long-term application of fertilizers with sizes of 5-2 mm is increased compared with that of the samples with no fertilizer. It is easier to form lager size soil macro-aggregates by the long-term application of organic manures in combination with chemical fertilizers. The contents of organic matters, total nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen are all higher after treatments with different combinations of fertilizers, while there is a little effect on the contents of ammoniate nitrogen. The contents of organic matters, total nitrogen in the grades of soil macro-aggregates from the plough layers of the treated farmland exhibited significant difference. Moreover, the contents of organic matters and total nitrogen in the soil macro-aggregates with the size of 1-0.25 mm is the highest in all treated soil samples. The contents of nitrate nitrogen in soil macro-aggregates increased with the increasing of soil macro-aggregate size except those applied with chemical fertilizer and lower amount of corn stover. The results of correlation analysis revealed that there exists a significantly positive correlation between the percentage of mass of soil macro-aggregates with the size of 5-2 mm and the contents of organic matters, total nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen in the soil samples. However, the correlation between the percentage of mass of soil macro-aggregates with the size of 1-0.25 rnm and the contents of total nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen is significantly negative.The study showed that the highest contributing rates of macro-aggregates fractions to soil fertility is from the soil macro-aggregates fraction with the size of 1-0.25 mm in most of the cases.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(30971866 and 30230230)
文摘Plant growth and crop production depend to a large extent on soil N supplying capacity （SNSC）： The higher the SNSC, the higher the dependence of crops on soil and the lower the N fertilizer recovery. Of the SNSC, soil organic N （ON） played a key role in supplying N nutrient to crop production and still does in many subsistence and low-input farming systems. In this paper, soil ON contents, types, chemical components and its contribution to plant production are reviewed up to date in details, the characteristics of ON in dryland soils discussed together with its chemical components, and the mineralization and availability to plants of some important chemical components are emphasized at the last part for practical considerations.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31270553)the National Basic Research Program of China (2009CB118604)the Special Fund for Agro-Scientific Research in the Public Interest of China (201103003)
文摘Temporally irregular rainfall distribution and inefficient rainwater management create severe constraints on crop production in rainfed semiarid areas. Gravel and plastic film mulching are effective methods for improving agricultural productivity and water utilization. However, the effects of these mulching practices on soil water supply and plant water use associated with crop yield are not well understood. A 3-yr study was conducted to analyze the occurrence and distribution of dry spells in a semiarid region of Northwest China and to evaluate the effects of non-mulching （CK）, gravel mulching （GM） and plastic film mulching （FM） on the soil water supply, plant water use and maize （Zea mays L.） grain yield. Rainfall analysis showed that dry spells of ≥5 days occurred frequently in each of 3 yr, accounting for 59.9-69.2% of the maize growing periods. The 〉15-d dry spells during the jointing stage would expose maize plants to particularly severe water stress. Compared with the CK treatment, both the GM and FM treatments markedly increased soil water storage during the early growing season. In general, the total evapotranspiration （ET） was not significantly different among the three treatments, but the mulched treatments significantly increased the ratio of pre- to post-silking ET, which was closely associated with yield improvement. As a result, the grain yield significantly increased by 17.1, 70.3 and 16.7% for the GM treatment and by 28.3, 87.6 and 38.2% for the FM treatment in 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively, compared with the CK treatment. It＇s concluded that both GM and FM are effective strategies for mitigating the impacts of water deficit and improving maize production in semiarid areas. However. FM is more effective than GM.
基金Project supported by the Hundred Talents Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. 2004109)the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. SW05501)the Innovation Team Program of Northwest A&F University (No. 05CX-1)
文摘In order to preliminarily look at rules for soil moisture changes in the bank of the gully and to provide some recommendations for vegetative restoration in gully bank regions in the Loess Plateau, changes of soil moisture with depth and distance to the gully edge and their dynamic changes with time were observed to study the soil water characteristics in the bank of the gully. The results showed that soil water content increased with increasing distance from the gully edge, whereas for the same time period, the closer the distance to the gully wall, the greater the water loss; and that the influential distance of side evaporation decreased as depth increased.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China （90502006）.
文摘It is important to study the soluble organic N （SON） extracted during water-logged incubation for evaluating soil Nsupplying capacity. Soil initial SON and mineral N （Nmin）, cumulative soluble organic N and NH4＋-N in leachates during water-logged incubation, mineralization potentials of both easily decomposable N （ND） and resistant N （NR）, and their relationships with N uptake by crop in pot experiment were investigated by using 10 kinds of farmland soils with widely different physical and chemical properties on the Loess Plateau, China, and the effects of SON on evaluating soil Nsupplying capacity were studied. The results showed that the average content of initial SON （23.9 mg kg^-1） of 10 soils was 28.8% of initial total soluble N and 2.4% of soil total N. The percentage of cumulative SON in leaching total soluble N （118.1 mg kg^-1 was 46.4%, higher than the percentage of initial SON （28.8%）, and almost close to the percentage of cumulative NH4^＋-N in the leachates. ND had close correlation with total N, and the correlation coefficients were 0.92 （P 〈 0.01, excluding SON in estimating ND） and 0.88 （P 〈 0.01, including SON in estimating ND）, respectively. N mineralization potential and mineralization rate constant were different with the soil types. ND of Los-Orthic Entisols and Ust-Sandiic Entisols were lower than that of Eum-Orthrosols. Mineralization rate constant for the fast decomposable N-fraction （kD） decreased and the mineralization rate constant of resistant materials （kR） increased when SON was taken into account. Cumulative NH4^＋-N was a better evaluation index of soil N-supplying capacity, and it is not only suitable for the first season crops but also for two successive season crops. Cumulative SON alone was not a satisfactory index for the potential of mineralizable N. But it would be more accurate for ND in revealing the potential mineralizable N when SON was taken into account. Cumulative TSN, to some extent, could also be taken as an index for the potential mineralizable N. Cumulative NH4＋-N, total soluble N, and ND were good indexes for estimating soil potential mineralizable N, especially for soils of two successive season crops. And cumulative total soluble N and ND in evaluating the permanence of soil N-supply is of greater significance when SON was included.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31270553,51279197,41401343)the Special Fund for Agricultural Profession, China(201103003)
文摘To better understand the effects of plastic film mulching on soil greenhouse gases（GHGs） emissions,we compared seasonal and vertical variations of GHG concentrations at seven soil depths in maize（Zea mays L.） fields at Changwu station in Shaanxi,a semi-humid region,between 2012 and 2013.Gas samples were taken simultaneously every one week from non-mulched（BP） and plastic film-mulched（FM） field plots.The results showed that the concentration of GHGs varied distinctly at the soil-atmosphere interface and in the soil profile during the maize growing season（MS）.Both carbon dioxide（CO_2） and nitrous oxide（N_2O） concentrations increased with increasement of soil depth,while the methane（CH_4）concentrations decreased with increasement of soil depth.A strong seasonal variation pattern was found for CO_2 and N_2O concentrations,as compared to an inconspicuous seasonal variation of CH_4 concentrations.The mean CO_2 and N_2O concentrations were higher,but the mean CH_4 concentration in the soil profiles was lower in the FM plots than in the BP plots.The results of this study suggested that plastic film mulching significantly increased the potential emissions of CO_2and N_2O from the soil,and promoted CH_4 absorption by the soil,particularly during the MS.
