Jingkuan Wang

Long-term manure amendments reduced soil aggregate stability via redistribution of the glomalin-related soil protein in macroaggregates

Glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP) contributes to the formation and maintenance of soil aggregates, it is however remains unclear whether long-term intensive manure amendments alter soil aggregates stability and whether GRSP regulates these changes. Based on a three-decade long fertilization experiment in northeast China, this study examined the impact of long-term manure input on soil organic carbon (SOC), total and easily extractable GRSP (GRSPt and GRSPe) and their respective allocations in four soil aggregates (>2000 μm; 2000–250 μm; 250–53 μm; and <53 μm). The treatments include no fertilization (CK), low and high manure amendment (M1, M2), chemical nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers (NPK), and combined manure and chemical fertilizers (NPKM1, NPKM2). Though SOC, GRSPe and GRSPt in soil and SOC in each aggregate generally increased with increasing manure input, GRSPt and GRSPe in each aggregate showed varying changes with manure input. Both GRSP in macroaggregates (2000–250 μm) were significantly higher under low manure input, a pattern consistent with changes in soil aggregate stability. Constituting 38~49% of soil mass, macroaggregates likely contributed to the nonlinear changes of aggregate stability under manure amendments. The regulatory process of GRSP allocations in soil aggregates has important implications for manure management under intensive agriculture.

Soil type recognition as improved by genetic algorithm-based variable selection using near infrared spectroscopy and partial least squares discriminant analysis

Soil types have traditionally been determined by soil physical and chemical properties, diagnostic horizons and pedogenic processes based on a given classification system. This is a laborious and time consuming process. Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy can comprehensively characterize soil properties, and may provide a viable alternative method for soil type recognition. Here, we presented a partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA) method based on the NIR spectra for the accurate recognition of the types of 230 soil samples collected from farmland topsoils (0–10 cm), representing 5 different soil classes (Albic Luvisols, Haplic Luvisols, Chernozems, Eutric Cambisols and Phaeozems) in northeast China. We found that the PLSDA had an internal validation accuracy of 89% and external validation accuracy of 83% on average, while variable selection with the genetic algorithm (GA and GA-PLSDA) improved this to 92% and 93%. Our results indicate that the GA variable selection technique can significantly improve the accuracy rate of soil type recognition using NIR spectroscopy, suggesting that the proposed methodology is a promising alternative for recognizing soil types using NIR spectroscopy.

Long-term effect of plastic film mulching and fertilization on bacterial communities in a brown soil revealed by high through-put sequencing

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to access the effect of long-term fertilization and film mulching application on soil properties and bacterial community structure. We used 16S rRNA gene to investigate soil bacterial community composition by high through-put sequencing. The results demonstrated that predominant groups in the bacterial community were: Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, Firmicutes, Planctomycetes, Gemmatimonadetes, Verrucomicrobia, Chloroflexi and Cyanobacteria. Long-term fertilization of combined manure and nitrogen application caused significant decrease in soil bacterial diversity and richness compared to non-fertilization control, though manure fertilization alone played a significant role in restoring bacterial diversity. Film mulching and manure fertilization significantly increased the relative abundances of soil bacterial groups mentioned above. Furthermore, film mulching played significant role in shaping the bacterial community structure regardless of fertilization. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that soil moisture content, pH, total N and soil organic C had significant (P < 0.05) influence on dominant bacterial groups. Altogether, plastic film mulching and manure application prevented loss of soil bacterial diversity and abundance during long-term fertilization. These findings showed the detrimental use of combined manure and nitrogen fertilization to soil microbes and the useful application of manure fertilization coupled with film mulching to soil biodiversity in long-term fertilization experiments.

Characteristics of differently stabilised soil organic carbon fractions in relation to long-term fertilisation in Brown Earth of Northeast China

Long-term use of artificial fertiliser has a significant impact on soil organic carbon (SOC). We used physical-chemical fractionation methods to assess the impact of long-term (26years) fertilisation in a maize cropping system developed on Brown Earth in Northeast China. Plot treatments consisted of control (CK); nitrogen (N) fertiliser (N2); low-level organic manure combined with inorganic N and phosphorus (P) fertiliser (M1N1P1); medium-level organic manure combined with inorganic N fertiliser (M2N2); and high-level organic manure combined with inorganic N and P fertiliser (M4N2P1). Our objectives were to (1) determine the contents of and variations in the SOC fractions; (2) explore the relationship between total SOC and its fractions. In treatments involving organic manure (M1N1P1, M2N2, and M4N2P1), total SOC and physically protected microaggregate (μagg) and μagg occluded particulate organic carbon (iPOC) contents increased by 9.9-58.9%, 1.3-34.7%, 29.5-127.9% relative to control, respectively. But there no significant differences (P>0.05) were detected for the chemically, physically-chemically, and physically-biochemically protected fractions among the M1N1P1, M2N2, and M4N2P1 treatments. Regression analysis revealed that there was a linear positive correlation between SOC and the unprotected coarse particulate organic carbon (cPOC), physically protected μagg, and iPOC fractions (P<0.05). However, physically-chemically, and physically-biochemically protected fractions responded negatively to SOC content. The highest rate of C accumulation among the SOC fractions occurred in the cPOC fraction, which accounted for as much as 32% of C accumulation as total SOC increased, suggesting that cPOC may be the most sensitive fraction to fertiliser application. We found that treatments had no effect on C levels in H-μsilt and NH-μsilt, indicating that the microaggregated silt C-fractions may have reached a steady state in terms of C saturation in the Brown Earth of Northeast China.

Dynamics of maize carbon contribution to soil organic carbon in association with soil type and fertility level.

Soil type and fertility level influence straw carbon dynamics in the agroecosystems. However, there is a limited understanding of the dynamic processes of straw-derived and soil-derived carbon and the influence of the addition of straw carbon on soil-derived organic carbon in different soils associated with different fertility levels. In this study, we applied the in-situ carborundum tube method and 13C-labeled maize straw (with and without maize straw) at two cropland (Phaeozem and Luvisol soils) experimental sites in northeast China to quantify the dynamics of maize-derived and soil-derived carbon in soils associated with high and low fertility, and to examine how the addition of maize carbon influences soil-derived organic carbon and the interactions of soil type and fertility level with maize-derived and soil-derived carbon. We found that, on average, the contributions of maize-derived carbon to total organic carbon in maize-soil systems during the experimental period were differentiated among low fertility Luvisol (from 62.82% to 42.90), high fertility Luvisol (from 53.15% to 30.00%), low fertility Phaeozem (from 58.69% to 36.29%) and high fertility Phaeozem (from 41.06% to 16.60%). Furthermore, the addition of maize carbon significantly decreased the remaining soil-derived organic carbon in low and high fertility Luvisols and low fertility Phaeozem before two months. However, the increasing differences in soil-derived organic carbon between both soils with and without maize straw after two months suggested that maize-derived carbon was incorporated into soil-derived organic carbon, thereby potentially offsetting the loss of soil-derived organic carbon. These results suggested that Phaeozem and high fertility level soils would fix more maize carbon over time and thus were more beneficial for protecting soil-derived organic carbon from maize carbon decomposition.