Haiyang Yu

Effects of fertilization on microbial abundance and emissions of greenhouse gases (CH4 and N2O) in rice paddy fields

Abstract This study is to explore effects of nitrogen application and straw incorporation on abundance of relevant microbes and CH 4 and N2O fluxes in a midseason aerated rice paddy field. Fluxes of CH 4 and N2O were recorded, and abundance of relevant soil microbial functional genes was determined during rice‐growing season in a 6‐year‐long fertilization experiment field in China. Results indicate that application of urea significantly changed the functional microbial composition, while the influence of straw incorporation was not significant. Application of urea significantly decreased the gene abundances of archaeal amoA and mcrA, but it significantly increased the gene abundances of bacterial amoA. CH 4 emission was significantly increased by fresh straw incorporation. Incorporation of burnt straw tended to increase CH 4 emission, while the urea application had no obvious effect on CH 4 emission. N2O emission was significantly increased by urea application, while fresh or burnt straw incorporation tended to decrease N2O emission. The functional microbial composition did not change significantly over time, although the abundances of pmoA, archaeal amoA, nirS, and nosZ genes changed significantly. The change of CH 4 emission showed an inverse trend with the one of the N2O emissions over time. To some extent, the abundance of some functional genes in this study can explain CH 4 and N2O emissions. However, the correlation between CH 4 and N2O emissions and the abundance of related functional genes was not significant. Environmental factors, such as soil Eh, may be more related to CH 4 and N2O emissions.

Effects of straw incorporation along with microbial inoculant on methane and nitrous oxide emissions from rice fields.

Incorporation of straw together with microbial inoculant (a microorganism agent, accelerating straw decomposition) is being increasingly adopted in rice cultivation, thus its effect on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions merits serious attention. A 3-year field experiment was conducted from 2010 to 2012 to investigate combined effect of straw and microbial inoculant on methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, global warming potential (GWP) and greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI) in a rice field in Jurong, Jiangsu Province, China. The experiment was designed to have treatment NPK (N, P and K fertilizers only), treatment NPKS (NPK plus wheat straw), treatment NPKSR (NPKS plus Ruilaite microbial inoculant) and treatment NPKSJ (NPKS plus Jinkuizi microbial inoculant). Results show that compared to NPK, NPKS increased seasonal CH4 emission by 280-1370%, while decreasing N2O emission by 7-13%. When compared with NPKS, NPKSR and NPKSJ increased seasonal CH4 emission by 7-13% and 6-12%, respectively, whereas reduced N2O emission by 10-27% and 9-24%, respectively. The higher CH4 emission could be attributed to the higher soil CH4 production potential triggered by the combined application of straw and microbial inoculant, and the lower N2O emission to the decreased inorganic N content. As a whole, the benefit of lower N2O emission was completely offset by increased CH4 emission, resulting in a higher GWP for NPKSR (5-12%) and NPKSJ (5-11%) relative to NPKS. Due to NPKSR and NPKSJ increased rice grain yield by 3-6% and 2-4% compared to NPKS, the GHGI values for NPKS, NPKSR and NPKSJ were comparable. These findings suggest that incorporating straw together with microbial inoculant would not influence the radiative forcing of rice production in the terms of per unit of rice grain yield relative to the incorporation of straw alone.

Carbon isotope fractionation reveals distinct process of CH4 emission from different compartments of paddy ecosystem.

Carbon isotopic fractionations in the processes of CH4 emission from paddy field remain poorly understood. The δ13C-values of CH4 in association with production, oxidation and transport of CH4 in different pools of a paddy field were determined, and the stable carbon isotope fractionations were calibrated to assess relative contribution of acetate to CH4 production (fac) and fraction of CH4 oxidized (fox) by different pathways. The apparent isotope fractionation for CO2 conversion to CH4 (αapp) was 1.041–1.056 in the soil and 1.046–1.080 on the roots, indicating that fac was 10–60% and 0–50%, respectively. Isotope fractionation associated with CH4 oxidation (αox) was 1.021 ± 0.007 in the soil and 1.013 ± 0.005 on the roots, and the transport fractionation (εtransport) by rice plants was estimated to be −16.7‰ ~ −11.1‰. Rhizospheric fox was about 30–100%, and it was more important at the beginning but decreased fast towards the end of season. Large value of fox was also observed at the soil-water interface and soil and roots surfaces, respectively. The results demonstrate that carbon isotopic fractionations which might be different in different conditions were sensitive to the estimations of fac and fox in paddy field.