Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Long-term fertilization effects on organic carbon stabilization in aggregates of Mollisols 

Author(s):

Yaru Yuan ^{1, 2}, Lujun Li ¹, Na Li ¹, Chunbao Yang ^{1, 3}, Xiaozeng Han ¹

Recieved Date: 2013-01-09, Accepted Date: 2013-04-24

Abstract:

A mechanistic understanding of the dynamics of soil organic carbon (SOC) as influenced by fertilization practices is imperative for maintaining agricultural productivity and mitigating the elevated levels of atmospheric CO₂. A study was conducted in a long-term (19 years) trial to investigate the effects of chemical fertilizer and organic manure applications on bulk soil carbon (C) and aggregate associated C pools at 0–20 cm depth on a Mollisol in Northeast China. We found that use of organic manure in combination with mineral fertilizer increased SOC concentrations by 36% compared with the unfertilized control. In contrast, no significant improvements in SOC levels were found when mineral fertilizers were applied alone. Mere chemical fertilizer additions did not affect the weight proportion of aggregates and associated C content, while integrated use of manure and chemical fertilizer improved macroaggregation and macroaggregate protected C over the control. The increment of organic C in macroaggregates following organic manure plus inorganic fertilizer amendment was primarily located in the intra-aggregate particulate organic matter (iPOM) fraction. Coarse iPOM and fine iPOM within macroaggregates contributed 55% and 45% to the total increases in bulk SOC in manure-added soil compared with the control, respectively. This finding suggest that a Mollisol with regular organic manure plus mineral fertilizer additions will hold a greater active pool of relatively labile SOM as coarse iPOM and a larger reserve of relatively stable SOM as fine iPOM, which benefit both short-term C cycling to improve crop productivity and long-term C sequestration to mitigate enrichment of atmospheric CO₂. 

Keywords:

Soil aggregation, particulate organic matter, long-term experiment, manure application, Mollisol

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Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2013
Volume: 11
Issue: 2
Category: Environment
Pages: 1164-1168

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