Xiaoyuan Yan

Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from rice paddy fields as affected by nitrogen fertilisers and water management

Methane and N2O emissions affected by nitrogen fertilisers were measured simultaneously in rice paddy fields under intermittent irrigation in 1994. Ammonium sulphate and urea were applied at rates of 0 (control), 100 and 300 kg N ha-1. The results showed that CH4 emission, on the average, decreased by 42 and 60% in the ammonium sulphate treatments and 7 and 14% in the urea treatments at rates of 100 and 300 kg N ha-1, respectively, compared to the control. N2O emission increased significantly with the increase in the nitrogen application rate. N2O emission was higher from ammonium sulphate treatments than from the urea treatments at the same application rate. A trade-off effect between CH4 and N2O emission was clearly observed. The N2O flux was very small when the rice paddy plots were flooded, but peaked at the beginning of the disappearance of floodwater. In contrast, the CH4 flux peaked during flooding and was significantly depressed by mid-season aeration (MSA). The results suggest that it is important to evaluate the integrative effects of water management and fertiliser application for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions in order to attenuate the greenhouse effect contributed by rice paddy fields.

Global estimations of the inventory and mitigation potential of methane emissions from rice cultivation conducted using the 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Guidelines

[1] The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) regularly publishes guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories and methane emission (CH 4 ) from rice paddies has been an important component of these guidelines. While there have been many estimates of global CH 4 emissions from rice fields, none of them have been obtained using the IPCC guidelines. Therefore, we used the Tier 1 method described in the 2006 IPCC guidelines to estimate the global CH 4 emissions from rice fields. To accomplish this, we used country-specific statistical data regarding rice harvest areas and expert estimates of relevant agricultural activities. The estimated global emission for 2000 was 25.6 Tg a -1 , which is at the lower end of earlier estimates and close to the total emission summarized by individual national communications. Monte Carlo simulation revealed a 95% uncertainty range of 14.8-41.7 Tg a -1 ; however, the estimation uncertainty was found to depend on the reliability of the information available regarding the amount of organic amendments and the area of rice fields that were under continuous flooding. We estimated that if all of the continuously flooded rice fields were drained at least once during the growing season, the CH 4 emissions would be reduced by 4.1 Tg a -1 . Furthermore, we estimated that applying rice straw off season wherever and whenever possible would result in a further reduction in emissions of 4.1 Tg a -1 globally. Finally, if both of these mitigation options were adopted, the global CH 4 emission from rice paddies could be reduced by 7.6 Tg a -1 . Although draining continuously flooded rice fields may lead to an increase in nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emission, the global warming potential resulting from this increase is negligible when compared to the reduction in global warming potential that would result from the CH 4 reduction associated with draining the fields.

Long-term manuring and fertilization effects on soil organic carbon pools under a wheat–maize cropping system in North China Plain

The effects of organic manure and chemical fertilizer on total soil organic carbon (CT), water-soluble organic C (CWS), microbial biomass C (CMB), labile C (CL), C mineralization, C storage and sequestration, and the role of carbon management index (CMI) in soil quality evaluation were studied under a wheat–maize cropping system in a long-term experiment, which was established in 1989 in the North China Plain. The experiment included seven treatments: (1) OM: application of organic manure; (2) 1/2OMN: application of half organic manure plus chemical fertilizer NPK; (3) NPK: balanced application of chemical fertilizer NPK; (4) NP: application of chemical fertilizer NP; (5) PK: application of chemical fertilizer PK; (6) NK: application of chemical fertilizer NK; and (7) CK: unfertilized control. Application of organic manure (OM and 1/2OMN) was more effective for increasing CT, CWS, CMB, CL, C mineralization, and CMI, as compared with application of chemical fertilizer alone. For the chemical fertilizer treatments, balanced application of NPK (treatment 3) showed higher CT, CWS, CMB, CL, C mineralization, and CMI than the unbalanced use of fertilizers (treatments 4, 5, and 6). The C storage in the OM and 1/2OMN treatments were increased by 58.0% and 26.6%, respectively, over the NPK treatment, which had 5.9–25.4% more C storage than unbalanced use of fertilizers. The contents of CWS, CMB, and CL in organic manure treatments (treatments 1 and 2) were increased by 139.7–260.5%, 136.7–225.7%, and 150.0–240.5%, respectively, as compared to the CK treatment. The CMI was found to be a useful index to assess the changes of soil quality induced by soil management practices due to its significant correlation with soil bulk density and C fractions. The OM and 1/2OMN treatments were not a feasible option for farmers, but a feasible option for sequestering soil carbon, especially for the OM treatment. The NPK treatment was important for increasing crop yields, organic material inputs, and soil C fractions, so it could increase the sustainability of cropping system in the North China Plain.

Estimations of emission factors for fertilizer-induced direct N2O emissions from agricultural soils in Japan: Summary of available data

Abstract Agricultural fields are significant sources of anthropogenic atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O). We compiled and analyzed data on N2O emissions from Japanese agricultural fields (246 measurements from 36 sites) reported in peer-reviewed journals and research reports. Agricultural fields were classified into three categories: upland fields, tea fields and rice paddy fields. In this analysis, data measured over a period of more than 90 days for upland fields and 209 days for tea fields were used to estimate annual fertilizer-induced emission factors (EF) because of limitations in the available data. The EF is defined as the emission from fertilized plots minus the background emission (emission from a zero-N control plot), and is expressed as a percentage of the N applied. The mean of N2O emissions from upland fields with well-drained soils was significantly lower than that from poorly drained soils. Mean (± standard deviation) N2O emissions measured over a period of more than 90 days from fertilized upland fields were 1.03 ± 1.14 kg N ha−1 and 4.78 ± 5.36 kg N ha−1 for well-drained and poorly drained soils, respectively. Because the ratio of the total areas of well-drained soils and poorly drained soils was different from the ratio of the number of available EF data for each soil category, we used a weighted mean to estimate EF for all upland fields. The EF was estimated to be 0.62 ± 0.48% for all fertilized upland fields. Mean N2O emissions and the estimated EF for fertilized tea fields measured over a period of more than 209 days were 24.3 ± 16.3 kg N ha−1 and 2.82 ± 1.80%, respectively. The mean N2O emission and estimated EF from Japanese rice paddy fields were 0.36 kg N ha−1 and 0.31 ± 0.31% for the cropping season, respectively. Significant uncertainties remain in these results because of limitations in the available data.

Measurements of CH4 and N20 emissions from rice paddies in Fengqiu, China

Abstract Methane emissions were measured by a closed chamber method in rice plots with sandy, loamy, and clayey soil, respectively, under a water regime consisting of a flooding and draining cycle in Fengqiu, Henan Province, China in 1993 and 1994. Nitrous oxide emissions were measured for every two measurements of CH4 flux in 1994. The results showed that CH4 emissions were low compared with those recorded in previous reports and the means of CH4 fluxes ranged from 0.16 to 1.86 mg CH4 m-2 h-1 in the growing season (108 d). The lowest mean flux of CH4 was observed in the clayey plot in both years. Statistically, soil temperature and soil Eh at 5 em depth significantly affected the fluctuations of the CH4 flux measured in the morning and afternoon, but they were not the main factors controlling the seasonal variation of the CH. flux. Flooding and draining cycle, as well as high rate of water percolation and low organic matter content of the soils resulted in low emissions of CH4. In contrast, the studied p...

Nitrous oxide emission from wetland rice soil as affected by the application of controlled-availability fertilizers and mid-season aeration

Abstract N2O emission from a wetland rice soil as affected by the application of three controlled-availability fertilizers (CAFs) and urea was investigated through a pot experiment. N2O fluxes from the N fertilized paddy soil averaged 44.8–69.3 μg N m–2 h–1 during the rice growing season, accounting for 0.28–0.51% of the applied N. The emission primarily occurred during the mid-season aeration (MSA) and the subsequent re-flooding period. Fluxes were highly correlated with the NO3– and N2O concentrations in the soil water. As there were relatively large amounts of NH4+-N present in the soil of the CAF treatments at the beginning of MSA, leading to large amounts of NO3–-N during the MSA and the subsequent re-flooding period, the tested CAFs were not effective in reducing N2O emission from this paddy soil. The potential of applied CAFs to reduce N2O emissions from paddy soil is discussed.

Atmospheric NH3 and NO2 concentration and nitrogen deposition in an agricultural catchment of Eastern China

To assess the atmospheric environmental impacts of anthropogenic reactive nitrogen in the fast-developing Eastern China region, we measured atmospheric concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)) and ammonia (NH(3)) as well as the wet deposition of inorganic nitrogen (NO(3)(-) and NH(4)(+)) and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) levels in a typical agricultural catchment in Jiangsu Province, China, from October 2007 to September 2008(.) The annual average gaseous concentrations of NO(2) and NH(3) were 42.2 microg m(-3) and 4.5 microg m(-3) (0 degree C, 760 mm Hg), respectively, whereas those of NO(3)(-), NH(4)(+), and DON in the rainwater within the study catchment were 1.3, 1.3, and 0.5 mg N L(-1), respectively. No clear difference in gaseous NO(2) concentrations and nitrogen concentrations in collected rainwater was found between the crop field and residential sites, but the average NH(3) concentration of 5.4 microg m(-3) in residential sites was significantly higher than that in field sites (4.1 microg m(-3)). Total depositions were 40 kg N ha(-1) yr(-1) for crop field sites and 30 kg N ha(-1) yr(-1) for residential sites, in which dry depositions (NO(2) and NH(3)) were 7.6 kg N ha(-1) yr(-1) for crop field sites and 1.9 kg N ha(-1) yr(-1) for residential sites. The DON in the rainwater accounted for 16% of the total wet nitrogen deposition. Oxidized N (NO(3)(-) in the precipitation and gaseous NO(2)) was the dominant form of nitrogen deposition in the studied region, indicating that reactive forms of nitrogen created from urban areas contribute greatly to N deposition in the rural area evaluated in this study.

Seasonal variation and controlling factors of anaerobic ammonium oxidation in freshwater river sediments in the Taihu Lake region of China

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) has been recently recognized as an important pathway for the removal of fixed nitrogen (N) from aquatic systems. However, the functions of anammox in freshwater river systems remain uncertain. In this study, we evaluated the occurrence of anammox activity in two rivers in the Taihu Lake region in China during a seasonal survey. Homogenized sediments were incubated with (15)N-labeled NO3(-) and NH4(+) amendments to determine the potential importance of the anammox process relative to canonical denitrification. Production of (29)N2 and (30)N2 in slurries was determined using membrane inlet mass spectrometry. Potential anammox rates in the two river sediments ranged from 0.11±0.07 to 6.79±1.28 μmol N m(-2) h(-1) and the remove of N by anammox accounted for 0.8±0.00% to 10.7±0.03% of total N2 production. Potential anammox rates varied spatially and temporally in the two rivers, with the highest and lowest mean anammox rates appearing during summer and early autumn and during winter, respectively. The variation of the percentage of anammox to total N2 production displayed the same trend with potential anammox rates. Water temperature and NO3(-) content in sediments were the main factors affecting anammox activity. Anammox bacteria were detected in sediment samples using barcode pyrosequencing. The 16S rRNA anammox gene sequences in the river sediments were affiliated with Candidatus Kuenenia, Candidatus Jettenia, and Candidatus Scalindua, among which C. Kuenenia dominated the anammox bacterial communities. Our results confirmed the presence of anammox bacteria but their role is relatively small in removing fixed N from freshwater river systems.

Can knowledge‐based N management produce more staple grain with lower greenhouse gas emission and reactive nitrogen pollution? A meta‐analysis

Knowledge-based nitrogen (N) management, which is designed for a better synchronization of crop N demand with N supply, is critical for global food security and environmental sustainability. Yet, a comprehensive assessment on how these N management practices affect food production, greenhouse gas emission (GHG), and N pollution in China is lacking. We compiled the results of 376 studies (1166 observations) to evaluate the overall effects of seven knowledge-based N management practices on crop productivity, nitrous oxide (N2 O) emission, and major reactive N (Nr) losses (ammonia, NH3 ; N leaching and runoff), for staple grain (rice, wheat, and corn) production in China. These practices included the application of controlled-release N fertilizer, nitrification inhibitor (NI) and urease inhibitor (UI), higher splitting frequency of fertilizer N application, lower basal N fertilizer (BF) proportion, deep placement of N fertilizer, and optimal N rate based on soil N test. Our results showed that, compared to traditional N management, these knowledge-based N practices significantly increased grain yields by 1.3-10.0%, which is attributed to the higher aboveground N uptake (5.1-12.1%) and N use efficiency in grain (8.0-48.2%). Moreover, these N management practices overall reduced GHG emission and Nr losses, by 5.4-39.8% for N2 O emission, 30.7-61.5% for NH3 emission (except for the NI application), 13.6-37.3% for N leaching, and 15.5-45.0% for N runoff. The use of NI increased NH3 emission by 27.5% (9.0-56.0%), which deserves extra-attention. The cost and benefit analysis indicated that the yield profit of these N management practices exceeded the corresponding input cost, which resulted in a significant increase of the net economic benefit by 2.9-12.6%. These results suggest that knowledge-based N management practice can be considered an effective way to ensure food security and improve environmental sustainability, while increasing economic return.

Nitrogen Removal Capacity of the River Network in a High Nitrogen Loading Region

Denitrification is the primary process that regulates the removal of bioavailable nitrogen (N) from aquatic ecosystems. Quantifying the capacity of N removal from aquatic systems can provide a scientific basis for establishing the relationship between N reduction and water quality objectives, quantifying pollution contributions from different sources, as well as recommending control measures. The Lake Taihu region in China has a dense river network and heavy N pollution; however, the capacity for permanent N removal by the river network is unknown. Here, we concurrently examined environmental factors and net N2 flux from sediments of two rivers in the Lake Taihu region between July 2012 and May 2013, using membrane inlet mass spectrometry, and then established a regression model incorporating the highly correlated factors to predict the N removal capacity of the river network in the region. To test the applicability of the regression model, 21 additional rivers surrounding Lake Taihu were sampled between July and December 2013. The results suggested that water nitrate concentrations are still the primary controlling factor for net denitrification even in this high N loading river network, probably due to multicollinearity of other relevant factors, and thus can be used to predict N removal from aquatic systems. Our established model accounted for 78% of the variability in the measured net N2 flux in these 21 rivers, and the total N removed through N2 production by the river network was estimated at 4 × 10(4) t yr(-1), accounting for about 43% of the total aquatic N load to the river system. Our results indicate that the average total N content in the river water discharged into Lake Taihu would be around 5.9 mg of N L(-1) in the current situation, far higher than the target concentration of 2 mg of N L(-1), given the total N load and the N removal capacity. Therefore, a much stronger effort is required to control the N pollution of the surface water in the region.