Effect of alternating drip irrigation on soil gas emissions, microbial community composition, and root–soil interactions

Jingwei Wang, Yuan Li and Wenquan Niu

Agricultural Water Management, 2021, vol. 256, issue C

Abstract: The lack of knowledge on the effects of alternating drip irrigation (ADI) on soil gas emissions limits the understanding of the trade-off between irrigation and soil gas emissions. To determine the effects of ADI on soil gas emissions, this study investigated soil gas emissions, microbial community composition and root–soil interactions in a tomato crop under ADI with different lower limits (50%, 60% and 70% field capacity (FC)), with mulched drip irrigation (MDI) used as a control. ADI with different lower limits differentially affected root growth and microbial community composition. These differences regulated root–soil interactions and affected soil gas emissions. Compared with ADI at 60% FC, ADI at 50% and 70% FC increased root fork numbers by 14.7% and 26.5%, respectively, and compared with MDI and ADI at 60% FC, these treatments also increased the abundance-based coverage estimators of bacterial communities. Furthermore, the total cumulative CO2 emissions from ADI at 50% and 70% FC were 42.1% and 46.8% greater than that of MDI, respectively, and the total cumulative N2O emissions from both treatments were 70.0% and 35.0% greater than those under MDI, respectively. Compared with MDI, ADI at 60% FC increased the total cumulative CO2 flux by 27.7%, although the latter decreased the root fork numbers and abundance-based coverage estimators of bacterial communities. Importantly, the tomato yield and water-use efficiency under ADI at 60% FC were intermediate for the various treatments, and the yield-scaled soil gas emissions were significantly lower than those under ADI at 50% and 70% FC. Therefore, ADI at 60% FC is a suitable irrigation method for optimizing tomato crop water-use efficiency and reducing gas emissions. Taken together, these results provide a new perspective for reducing soil gas emissions based on regulating the soil microbial community and root–soil interaction mechanisms through soil water management.

Keywords: Alternating drip irrigation; Soil CO2; Soil N2O; Soil microbial community; Root zone soil (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:256:y:2021:i:c:s0378377421003991

DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2021.107123

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