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Acta Agronomica Sinica ›› 2018, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (10): 1485-1495.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1006.2018.01485

• TILLAGE & CULTIVATION · PHYSIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effects of Reduced Nitrogen on Soil Ammonification, Nitrification, and Nitrogen Fixation in Maize-soybean Relay Intercropping Systems

Tai-Wen YONG1,Ping CHEN1,Xiao-Ming LIU1,2,Li ZHOU1,3,Chun SONG4,Xiao-Chun WANG1,Feng YANG1,Wei-Guo LIU1,Wen-Yu YANG1,*()   

  1. 1 College of Agronomy, Sichuan Agricultural University / Key Laboratory of Crop Ecophysiology and Farming System in Southwest, Ministry of Agriculture/ Sichuan Engineering Research Center for Crop Strip Intercropping System, Chengdu 611130, Sichuan, China
    2 Shehong Bureau of Agriculture, Suining 629200, Sichuan, China
    3 Yibin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yibin 644000, Sichuan, China
    4 College of Environmental Sciences, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, Sichuan, China
  • Received:2017-12-15 Accepted:2018-07-20 Online:2018-10-10 Published:2018-07-30
  • Contact: Wen-Yu YANG E-mail:mssiyangwy@sicau.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    The study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2016YFD0300202);the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31271669);the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31671625)

Abstract:

The ammonification, nitrification, and nitrogen fixation processes of soil are the main factors affecting nitrogen acquisition by plants and nitrogen loss in soil. A field experiment was conducted to reveal the characteristics of soil nitrogen transformation and emission with reduced nitrogen application in the maize-soybean relay intercropping. The effects of three planting patterns (MM: maize monoculture; MS: soybean monoculture; IMS: maize-soybean relay strip intercropping) and three nitrogen application rates (no nitrogen, NN: 0; reduced nitrogen, RN: reduced N 180 kg ha -1; conventional nitrogen, CN: conventional N 240 kg ha -1) on ammonification, nitrification, nitrogen fixation, N emission, and NO3 --N accumulation were assessed. The IMS enhanced soil nitrification and ammonification enhanced in IMS compared with the corresponding monocultures. The ammonia volatilization and N2O loss ratio were decreased by 21.6% and 29.7% in IMS compared with those in MM, respectively. Additionally, compared with the corresponding monocultures, IMS had significantly higher soil NO3 --N accumulation of maize, while that of soybean significantly lower. Under different N levels, the soil ammonification and nitrification of maize were decreased in RN compared with those in CN, and the soil nitrification and nitrogen fixation of soybean were increased in RN compared with those in CN. The total nitrogen fixation of maize and soybean in IMS was increased by 29.7% and 32.0% in RN compared with those in CN, respectively. In addition, the annual soil ammonia volatilization and N2O emission of IMS were decreased by 37.2% and 41.0% in RN compared with those in CN, respectively. In summary, the maize-soybean relay intercropping with reduced nitrogen can provide sufficient nitrogen for crops by strengthening soil ammonification, nitrification, nitrogen fixation, and increasing soil nitrogen residual and decreasing nitrogen emissions.

Key words: maize-soybean relay intercropping, reduced nitrogen, nitrogen cycle, nitrogen emission, residual nitrogen

Table 1

Nitrogen (N) application rates under different planting patterns (kg N hm-2)"

种植模式
Planting patterns
施氮处理
N application
施氮总量
Total N application rate
底肥
Base fertilizer
追肥
Top fertilizer
玉米单作
MM
减量施氮RN 135 72 63
常量施氮CN 180 72 108
大豆单作
MS
减量施氮RN 45 45 0
常量施氮CN 60 60 0
玉米-大豆套作
IMS
减量施氮RN 180 72 108
常量施氮CN 240 72 168

Fig. 1

Schematic diagram of planting patterns and soil sample points A: maize/soybean relay intercropping; B: maize monoculture; C: soybean monoculture."

Fig. 2

Nitrifying capacities of soil under different N rates and planting patterns (field trial in Renshou, 2013) A: soil of maize strips. MMNN: monoculture maize with no N; MMRN: monoculture maize with reduced N; MMCN: monoculture maize with conventional N; IMNN: intercropped maize with no N; IMRN: monoculture maize with reduced N; IMCN: intercropped maize with conventional N. B: soil of soybean strips. MSNN: monoculture maize with no N, MSRN: monoculture maize with reduced N; MSCN: monoculture maize with conventional N; ISNN: intercropped maize with no N; ISRN: monoculture maize with reduced N; ISCN: intercropped maize with conventional N. The abscissa is for the growth stages, the growth stages of maize include jointing stage (V6), 12th leaf (bell stage, V12), tasseling stage (VT), full maturity (R6), and the growth stages of soybean include the fifth trifoliolate stage (V5), full bloom stage (R2), full pod stage (R4), full seed stage (R6), full maturity stage (R8). At the same growth stage, bars represented by different letters between N levels are significantly different under the same planting pattern (LSD, P < 0.05)."

Fig. 3

Ammonifying capacities of soil under different N rates and planting patterns (field trial in Renshou, 2013) A: soil of maize strips; B: soil of soybean strips. Abbreviations are the same as those as in Figure 2. At the same growth stage, bars represented by different letters between N levels are significantly different under the same planting pattern (LSD, P < 0.05)."

Fig. 4

Nitrogen-fixing capacities of soil under different N rates and planting patterns (field trial in Renshou, 2013) A: soil of maize strips; B: soil of soybean strips. Abbreviations are the same as those as in Figure 2. At the same growth stage, bars represented by different letters between N levels are significantly different under the same planting pattern (LSD, P < 0.05)."

Fig. 5

Cumulated amount of ammonia volatilization of different N application rates under different planting pattern (field trial in Renshou, 2013) MM: monoculture maize; MS: monoculture soybean; IMS: maize-soybean relay intercropping. NN: no N; RN: reduced N; CN: conventional N. Bars represented by different letter are significantly different between N levels under the same planting pattern (LSD, P < 0.05)."

Fig. 6

Loss rate of ammonia volatilization of different N application rates under different planting pattern (field trial in Renshou) MM: monoculture maize; MS: monoculture soybean; IMS: maize-soybean relay intercropping. RN: reduced N; CN: conventional N. Bars represented by different letter are significantly different between N levels under the same planting pattern (LSD, P < 0.05)."

Fig. 7

Characteristics of N2O emission under different planting pattern and N application rates (field trial in Renshou, 2013) A: N2O emissions; B: the loss rate of N2O. MM: monoculture maize; MS: monoculture soybean; IMS: maize-soybean relay intercropping. NN: no N; RN: reduced N; CN: conventional N. Bars represented by different letter are significantly different between N levels under the same planting pattern (LSD, P < 0.05)."

Fig. 8

NO3--N accumulation amount of maize under different planting patterns (plot trial in Ya’an) MMNN: monoculture maize with no N; MMRN: monoculture maize with reduced N; IMNN: intercropped maize with no N; IMRN: monoculture maize with reduced N. At the same sampling interval, bars represented by different letter are significantly different between N levels under the same planting pattern (LSD, P < 0.05)."

Fig. 9

Soil NO3--N accumulation amount of soybean strips under different planting patterns (plot trial in Ya’an) MSNN: monoculture soybean with no N; MSRN: monoculture soybean with reduced N; ISNN: intercropped soybean with no N; ISRN: monoculture soybean with reduced N. At the same sampling interval, bars represented by different letter are significantly different between N levels under the same planting pattern (LSD, P < 0.05)."

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