Responses of Soil Respiration and Organic Carbon to Straw Mulching and Ridge Tillage in Maize Field of a Triple Cropping System in the Hilly Region of Southwest China

Sai Zhang, Hafiz Athar Hussain, Longchang Wang, Saddam Hussain, Biao Li, Hangfei Zhou, Haixiu Luo, Xiaoyu Zhang, Zhonglian Ma, Ling Long and Yisha Dai
Additional contact information
Sai Zhang: Key Laboratory of Eco-Environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region, Ministry of Education/Engineering Research Center of South Upland Agriculture, Ministry of Education/College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Hafiz Athar Hussain: Key Laboratory of Eco-Environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region, Ministry of Education/Engineering Research Center of South Upland Agriculture, Ministry of Education/College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Longchang Wang: Key Laboratory of Eco-Environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region, Ministry of Education/Engineering Research Center of South Upland Agriculture, Ministry of Education/College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Saddam Hussain: Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Punjab Pakistan
Biao Li: Key Laboratory of Eco-Environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region, Ministry of Education/Engineering Research Center of South Upland Agriculture, Ministry of Education/College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Hangfei Zhou: Key Laboratory of Eco-Environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region, Ministry of Education/Engineering Research Center of South Upland Agriculture, Ministry of Education/College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Haixiu Luo: Key Laboratory of Eco-Environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region, Ministry of Education/Engineering Research Center of South Upland Agriculture, Ministry of Education/College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Xiaoyu Zhang: Key Laboratory of Eco-Environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region, Ministry of Education/Engineering Research Center of South Upland Agriculture, Ministry of Education/College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Zhonglian Ma: Key Laboratory of Eco-Environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region, Ministry of Education/Engineering Research Center of South Upland Agriculture, Ministry of Education/College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Ling Long: Key Laboratory of Eco-Environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region, Ministry of Education/Engineering Research Center of South Upland Agriculture, Ministry of Education/College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
Yisha Dai: Key Laboratory of Eco-Environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region, Ministry of Education/Engineering Research Center of South Upland Agriculture, Ministry of Education/College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 11, 1-15

Abstract: Soil disturbance by tillage practices promotes soil respiration which is a main source of carbon dioxide emission into the atmosphere. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of different tillage practices on soil respiration and the carbon source/sink characteristics of maize farmland ecosystems in the wheat–maize–soybean cropping system. Six tillage treatments, namely, traditional tillage (T), ridge tillage (R), traditional tillage + straw mulching (TS), ridge tillage + straw mulching (RS), traditional tillage + straw mulching + decomposing inoculants (TSD), and ridge tillage + straw mulching + decomposing inoculants (RSD), were used to measure the soil respiration and its hydrothermal factors. The results showed that the intensity of soil respiration increased initially and decreased afterwards throughout the growth period of maize ranging from 1.011 to 5.575 μmol (m 2 ·s) −1 . The soil respiration rate under different treatments varied remarkably presenting a trend of RSD > TSD > TS > RS > T > R. Ridge tillage reduced the soil respiration rate of maize farmland while straw mulching improved it. Meanwhile, ridge tillage and straw mulching increased the soil temperature sensitivity index of soil respiration, but the addition of decomposing inoculants reduced this trend. The soil moisture response threshold under ridge tillage was lower, while the straw mulching was found to increase it, compared with the control. Moreover, there was a positive correlation between trapped soil fauna and soil respiration. Compared with the control, ridge tillage and straw mulching were beneficial to the carbon sink of the farmland ecosystem as shown by the maize field for the entire growing season.

Keywords: soil respiration; carbon balance; straw mulching; ridge tillage; maize; soil temperature; southwest region (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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