Planting Ages Inhibited Soil Respiration and CO 2 -C Emissions Attribute to Soil Degradation in Gravel-Mulched Land in Arid Areas

Bingyao Wang, Yunfei Li, Zhixian Liu, Peiyuan Wang, Zhanjun Wang, Xudong Wu, Yongping Gao, Lichao Liu and Haotian Yang ()
Additional contact information
Bingyao Wang: Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Yunfei Li: Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Zhixian Liu: Shapotou Meteorological Administration, Zhongwei 755000, China
Peiyuan Wang: Ningxia and Inner Mongolia Bureau of Hydrology and Water Resources, Yellow River Conservancy Commission (YRCC), Baotou 014030, China
Zhanjun Wang: Institute of Forestry and Grassland Ecology, Ningxia Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Yinchuan 750002, China
Xudong Wu: Institute of Forestry and Grassland Ecology, Ningxia Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Yinchuan 750002, China
Yongping Gao: Shapotou Desert Research and Experiment Station, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Lichao Liu: Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Haotian Yang: Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-16

Abstract: Gravel mulching is a widely employed strategy for water conservation in arid agricultural regions, with potential implications for soil carbon (C) sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions. However, soil respiration and CO 2 -C emissions remain uncertain owing to less consideration of the influence of precipitation patterns and planting age. In this study, we investigated the soil respiration rate ( R soil ) and cumulative CO 2 -C emission ( C cum ), both measured over a period of 72 h, along with soil properties and enzyme activities under different precipitation conditions based on gravel mulching with different planting ages. We analyzed the effects of planting ages on R soil and C cum and revealed the underlying mechanisms driving changes in environmental factors on R soil and C cum . The results demonstrated that the R soil reached the maximum value at about 1 h, 0.5 h, and 0.25 h after rewetting in 1, 10, and 20 years of gravel mulching under the condition with 1 mm, 5 mm, and 10 mm of precipitation, respectively, whereas the R soil exhibited its maximum at about 8 h after soil rewetting under precipitation of 30 mm. The C cum induced by precipitation pulses tends to decrease with increasing years of gravel mulching. The C cum was 0.0061 t ha −1 in the 20-year gravel-mulched soil, representing a 53.79% reduction compared to the 1-year gravel-mulched soil. Soil organic matter (SOM), planting ages, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were the primary factors influencing the R soil and C cum in 0–20 cm, while SOM, planting ages, and soil porosity (AirP) were the key factors affecting the R soil and C cum in 20–40 cm. The R soil and C cum in the 0–20 cm soil were regulated by soil enzyme activities, while those of 20–40 cm soil were controlled by soil properties. This indicates that the decrease in R soil and C cum is caused by soil degradation, characterized by a decrease in SOM and ALP. This study offers a novel insight into the long-term environmental impact of gravel mulching measures in arid areas, which is helpful in providing a theoretical basis for dryland agricultural management. It is imperative to consider the duration of gravel mulching when predicting the potential for C sequestration in arid agricultural areas.

Keywords: planting ages; precipitation pulse; soil respiration; gravel-mulched land; carbon emission (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/11/1923/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/11/1923/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:13:y:2024:i:11:p:1923-:d:1521923

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().