Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment最新文献

{"title":"Diet and landscape controls on greenhouse gas emissions from cattle excreta in a semi-arid environment","authors":"Jiancan Liu ,&nbsp;J. Diane Knight ,&nbsp;Reynald L. Lemke ,&nbsp;Helen M. Baulch ,&nbsp;Richard E. Farrell","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109469","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109469","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sod-seeding low productivity, or depleted, pastures with legumes, and non-bloat legumes in particular, is considered a viable method of restoring productivity to the pasture. However, the impact of the change in plant composition of the pastures on GHG emissions from the urine and dung deposited by cattle grazing the pastures is as yet unknown. Excreta were collected from beef cattle grazing a low productivity, depleted meadow bromegrass-alfalfa mixed pasture (D-MA) and D-MA pastures rejuvenated by sod-seeding with a non-bloat legume, cicer milkvetch (R-CM) or sainfoin (R-SF). The excreta were subsequently applied back to the respective pastures at locations in upper and lower slope positions. In general, plant composition of the pastures had a small but significant impact on the C and N content of the cattle excreta; however, this yielded no significant differences among treatments in either cumulative CO₂ emissions or cumulative CH₄ uptake for either the urine or dung. Yet, whereas CH₄ uptake was unaffected by the application of either urine or dung, urine applications yielded CO₂ emissions that were greater than those from the control or dung-amended treatments. Nitrous oxide emissions were significantly impacted by the chemical composition of the urine, and here we report distinct N₂O emission factors for urine and dung—with an average <em>EF</em>_<em>N2O</em> of 0.034 ± 0.024 % for dung and 0.12 ± 0.10 % for the urine from cattle that grazed the depleted and rejuvenated pastures. Our data also suggest that, for urine at least, diet can significantly impact the <em>EF</em>_<em>N2O</em>, with urine from cattle grazing the R-CM pasture yielding an <em>EF</em>_<em>N2O</em> of 0.24 ± 0.10 % and urine from confined beef cattle fed a high crude protein, total mixed ration (TMR) diet yielding an <em>EF</em>_<em>N2O</em> of 0.39 ± 0.13 %. These findings suggest that a disaggregation of emission factors based on excreta type and animal diet, while also considering temporal (seasonal) and spatial (landscape-scale) variability, can lead to improved accuracy of GHG emissions inventories.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"382 ","pages":"Article 109469"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143170688","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Microbial effects of prolonged nitrogen fertilization and straw mulching on soil N2O emissions using metagenomic sequencing","authors":"Yikai Zhao ,&nbsp;Pengfei Li ,&nbsp;Jiaojiao Liu ,&nbsp;Hangyu Xiao ,&nbsp;Afeng Zhang ,&nbsp;Shao Chen ,&nbsp;Jiayong Chen ,&nbsp;Helei Liu ,&nbsp;Xinyu Zhu ,&nbsp;Qaiser Hussain ,&nbsp;Xudong Wang ,&nbsp;Jianbin Zhou ,&nbsp;Zhujun Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109476","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109476","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions from agricultural soils significantly contribute to climate change. While straw mulching and nitrogen fertilization are crucial agricultural practices influencing soil nitrogen dynamics, their long-term effects on N₂O emissions and the underlying microbial mechanisms remain elusive. The main objectives of this study were to investigate the long-term effects of straw mulching and nitrogen fertilization on soil N₂O emissions, microbial communities, and nitrogen cycling functional genes in a winter wheat-summer maize rotation system in the Guanzhong Plain, China. This study investigated the microbial-driven effects of straw mulching at rates of 0 and 4500 kg ha⁻¹ (namely CT and SM, respectively) and nitrogen application at rates of 0, 240 kg N ha⁻¹ (namely N0 and N240, respectively) on N₂O emissions in a field experiment established in 2003. Nitrogen fertilization significantly increased N₂O emissions, nitrification and denitrification potentials, while straw mulching had no significant effect. Compared to CTN0 and SMN0 treatments, cumulative soil N₂O emissions under CTN240 and SMN240 increased by 317.4 % and 238.5 %, soil nitrification potential (NP) increased by 262.1 % and 117.3 %, and soil denitrification potential (DNP) increased by 92.91 % and 52.53 %, respectively. Nitrogen fertilizer application increased the abundance of nitrification and denitrification genes, thereby stimulating N₂O emissions. However, straw mulching promoted the abundances of assimilatory nitrate reduction (ANRA), dissimilatory nitrate reduction (DNRA), and <em>nosZ</em> genes, facilitating the reduction of N₂O reduction to N₂ in the absence of nitrogen fertilization. Partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM) revealed denitrification functional genes directly influenced N₂O emissions, while soil properties and microbial communities indirectly contributed to increased emissions. Among these factors, soil NH₄⁺-N and DNP were the primary drivers of N₂O emissions. These findings highlight the importance of integrated nitrogen management and straw mulching strategies for mitigating N₂O emissions from agricultural ecosystems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"382 ","pages":"Article 109476"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143170687","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Water management alleviates greenhouse gas emissions by promoting carbon and nitrogen mineralization after Chinese milk vetch incorporation in a paddy soil","authors":"Wei Yang ,&nbsp;Lianning Zhou ,&nbsp;Lai Yao ,&nbsp;Jiangwen Nie ,&nbsp;Mengdie Jiang ,&nbsp;Zhangyong Liu ,&nbsp;Huan Liu ,&nbsp;Bo Zhu ,&nbsp;Bin Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109468","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109468","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Water regime and fertilization are key factors regulating rice yield and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in paddy soils. However, the knowledge of the interaction effect of irrigation regime and green manure application on GHG emissions is still lacking. This study was carried out across three incorporation rates (0 %, 25 %, 75 % of urea-N) of Chinese milk vetch (<em>Astragalus sinicus</em> L., CMV), a widely used green manure, under three irrigation regimes (alternate wet and dry (AWD), flooding with 2 cm and 5 cm water depth, respectively). Results showed that water management, fertilizer regime and their interaction affected GHG emissions and grain yields significantly. CH₄ emissions increased with water depth and CMV substitution ratio, while N₂O emissions showed the opposite. The lowest global warming potential of CH₄ and N₂O was observed in 25 % CMV under AWD condition. Moreover, the 25 % CMV treatments had higher rice yields and lower GHGI under different water management. In the labile decomposition, the rates of C and N mineralization decreased with increasing water depth. Treatments with 25 % CMV had higher C and N mineralization rates. In summary, 25 % CMV substitution ratio has the highest potential to mitigate GHG emissions under AWD condition.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"381 ","pages":"Article 109468"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143142025","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of conservation tillage practices on rice yields and greenhouse gas emissions: Results from a 10-year in situ experiment","authors":"Cong Wang ,&nbsp;Huifeng Sun ,&nbsp;Xianxian Zhang ,&nbsp;Jining Zhang ,&nbsp;Zheng Jiang ,&nbsp;Sheng Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109474","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109474","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A long-term continuous in situ field experiment was conducted in the Yangtze River Delta region of China to quantify the effects of different rice-based conservation tillage (CT) practices on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and rice yields, compared to a conventional rice-wheat rotation system (RW). Four representative rice-based CT practices were evaluated: no-tillage rice-wheat rotation (RT), rice-winter fallow (RF), and rice-green manure rotation with low (RM-LN) and high nitrogen (N) fertilizer inputs (RM-HN). The RW, RT, and RF treatments were implemented continuously from 2012 to 2021. The RM-LN treatment was implemented from 2012 to 2016, followed by the RM-HN treatment in the same plots from 2017 to 2021. The results indicated that, compared to the RW treatment, the RT, RF, RM-LN, and RM-HN treatments resulted in decreases in total GHG emissions during the rice-growing season by 11.5 %, 40.2 % (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.01), 41.0 % (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05), and 35.2 % (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05), respectively, within the corresponding years of implementation. When compared to the RW treatment, the RT and RM-LN treatments significantly reduced rice yields by 6.7 % (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.01) and 8.7 % (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.01), respectively. In contrast, the RF and RM-HN treatments had no significant impact on rice yields relative to RW across the corresponding years. Consequently, relative to the RW treatment, the RF and RM-HN treatments achieved reductions in rice yield-scaled greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI) of 31.3 % (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05) and 34.0 % (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05), respectively, across the corresponding years, while maintaining rice yields. These findings suggest that RF and RM-HN are effective CT practices for mitigating GHG emissions from rice paddies in the Yangtze River Delta region.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"381 ","pages":"Article 109474"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143141846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Agricultural cultivation duration affects soil inorganic N turnover and supply capacity: Evidence in subtropical karst regions","authors":"Guan Wang ,&nbsp;Zihong Zhu ,&nbsp;Jianhua Cao ,&nbsp;Tongbin Zhu ,&nbsp;Jinxing Zhou ,&nbsp;Christoph Müller ,&nbsp;Junran Li ,&nbsp;Dirk Freese ,&nbsp;Xavier Le Roux","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109462","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109462","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The conversion of indigenous woodlands to agricultural lands has significantly altered nitrogen (N) cycling, impacting both ecosystem productivity and environmental health locally and globally. The relationship between cultivation duration and soil N availability and the mechanisms that drive these changes, however, remain unclear. In this study, we aimed to investigate how the duration of agricultural reclamation influences soil N cycling in the karst landscapes of southwestern China. We selected economic crops that have been cultivated for 1, 5, 15, and 30 years and conducted a regional survey using ¹⁵N labeling and molecular biology techniques to assess the effects of cultivation duration on soil N cycling. Our results show that short-term reclamation (&lt; 5 years) caused minimal changes in soil N dynamics, with little effect on the net production rates of NH₄⁺ and NO₃^–. However, as cultivation duration increased, we observed progressive declines in mineralization, nitrification, and microbial immobilization rates of NH₄⁺ and NO₃^–. This led to a substantial reduction in soil inorganic N availability (–39 % for NH₄⁺ and –70 % for NO₃^–) and a significant increase in the mean residence time of NH₄⁺ and NO₃^–, indicating a slower N turnover. Long-term reclamation (30 years) resulted in the most pronounced effects, reducing the soil’s capacity to supply inorganic N by impairing soil organic matter input, degrading soil structure, and lowering soil pH. Key soil variables such as soil organic carbon content, pH, total N, and soil aggregate stability explained over 80 % of the variance in N turnover rates. Overall, our findings suggest that while short-term reclamation has little impact, long-term agricultural practices significantly impair soil N cycling and availability. Sustainable agricultural practices that enhance soil organic matter content and promote soil aggregate stability could help preserve soil health and maintain productivity in karst and similar regions worldwide.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"381 ","pages":"Article 109462"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143142034","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Organic fertilization balances biodiversity maintenance, grass production, soil storage, nutrient cycling and greenhouse gas emissions for sustainable grassland development in China: A meta-analysis","authors":"Lingfan Wan ,&nbsp;Guohua Liu ,&nbsp;Xukun Su","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109473","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109473","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In recent decades, most grasslands in China have experienced varying degrees of degradation, and it is urgent to explore effective sustainable restoration models. Fertilizers have been widely used in grassland restoration projects. However, it remains unclear how fertilization can serve as an appropriate grassland restoration method to enhance ecosystem services and functions. Here, we conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis based on 79 studies to evaluate the responses of multiple ecosystem services and functions to inorganic and organic fertilization in grasslands of China. Inorganic fertilization increased grass production, soil storage and greenhouse gas emissions but often caused a loss of biodiversity maintenance. In contrast, organic fertilization increased biodiversity maintenance, grass production, soil storage, nutrient cycling, and greenhouse gas emissions relative to unfertilized, and increased more than inorganic fertilization. The positive effect of organic fertilization on ecosystem services and functions enhanced with increasing fertilization duration, while not observed under inorganic fertilization. Precipitation and elevation were the important influence factors affecting the effectiveness of organic fertilizer application. The appropriate organic fertilizer treatment needed to consider water and fertilizer balance as well as the unique environment of different grasslands. Therefore, we emphasize that long-term application of organic fertilizer may be a nature-based solution for promoting and maintaining ecosystem services and functions in grasslands of China.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"381 ","pages":"Article 109473"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143141939","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Accounting for the biodiversity benefits of woody plantings in agricultural landscapes: A global meta-analysis","authors":"Suzanne M. Prober ,&nbsp;Adam C. Liedloff ,&nbsp;Jacqueline R. England ,&nbsp;Karel Mokany ,&nbsp;Sue Ogilvy ,&nbsp;Anna E. Richards","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109453","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109453","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Woody plantings are widely promoted to ameliorate biodiversity loss in agricultural landscapes. New market mechanisms are rapidly emerging to expedite such efforts, but limited tools and data to account for benefits achieved hamper their implementation. Using data from 204 primary studies and 1206 paired comparisons, we present a global meta-analysis of the biodiversity benefits of woody plantings in agricultural landscapes, in a biodiversity and ecosystem accounting framework. Consistent with emerging biodiversity and ecosystem accounting methods, we express results as agricultural field:natural reference and planting:natural reference ratios to estimate the biodiversity values of agricultural fields and plantings, respectively. Mean biodiversity abundance and species richness for agricultural fields were 0.40 of those for natural reference sites, compared with 0.62 for plantings averaging 20 years old, indicating a mean biodiversity benefit of 0.22. These values varied significantly among taxonomic groups, with unexpectedly high values for agricultural fields driven by high means for invertebrates. Variation among studies was substantial, and biodiversity values for plantings increased with higher diversity and native dominance of plantings and lower management intensity. Critically, estimates of biodiversity benefits based on abundance versus richness were comparable, but estimates using compositional measures typically implied substantially lower benefits, likely owing to effects of species identity. Our study operationalises approaches for quantifying the benefit of plantings for biodiversity and ecosystem accounting, and emphasises the need to use compositional measures for realistic estimates of biodiversity benefits.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"381 ","pages":"Article 109453"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143141941","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Intra- and inter-annual variability of nitrogen and irrigation management effects on nitrate leaching and maize yield in the Bazile Groundwater Management Area, Nebraska","authors":"Arshdeep Singh ,&nbsp;Daran Rudnick ,&nbsp;Daniel Snow ,&nbsp;Christopher Misar ,&nbsp;Girma Birru ,&nbsp;Christopher Proctor ,&nbsp;Laila Puntel ,&nbsp;Javed Iqbal","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109463","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109463","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Increasing groundwater nitrate (NO₃-N) contamination has raised significant environmental and health concerns in irrigated sandy soils of Nebraska. This study evaluated the effects of suboptimum nitrogen (N) and deficit irrigation rates on NO₃-N leaching, crop yield, and economic returns to nitrogen, both with (RTN_Env) and without (RTN) accounting for environmental costs. The two-year on-farm study utilized a two-factor factorial design with three N rates (optimum, suboptimum, and low) and three irrigation rates (farmer’s full irrigation [FIT], 80 % of FIT, and 60 % of FIT) in continuous maize grown on irrigated sandy soils in the Bazile Groundwater Management Area, Nebraska. The results indicated that nitrogen rates had a greater impact on seasonal NO₃-N leaching than irrigation rates. Compared to the optimum (270 kg N ha⁻¹), the suboptimum (202 kg N ha⁻¹) and low N rates (135 kg N ha⁻¹) reduced NO₃-N leaching by 24 % (7 kg NO₃-N ha⁻¹) and 51 % (15 kg NO₃-N ha⁻¹), respectively. Maize yield decreased by 8 % (14.5 Mg ha⁻¹) and 11 % (14.0 Mg ha⁻¹), while RTN dropped by $215 ha⁻¹ and $298 ha⁻¹ , respectively. Notably, reduced N rates did not affect RTN_Env. The 80 % FIT treatment produced significantly higher grain yield and RTN but did not affect NO₃-N leaching compared to both the 60 % FIT and FIT treatments. Additionally, inter-annual variability had a more pronounced effect on nitrate leaching than the treatments themselves. In 2021, NO₃-N leaching was 64 % lower due to 38 % less irrigation, 37 % higher grain N uptake, and 74 % lower residual N—resulting in $214 more in RTN and $587 more in RTN_Env compared to 2022. In conclusion, findings suggest that reducing nitrogen rates is more effective in minimizing nitrate leaching than within-season irrigation reductions under current sprinkler irrigation practices. Additionally, inter-annual variability in NO₃-N leaching should be considered when developing strategies to improve nitrogen management in groundwater contaminated areas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"381 ","pages":"Article 109463"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143142426","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mulching practices decreased soil microbial carbon degradation potential under spring maize in the Loess Plateau of China","authors":"Caidi Yang ,&nbsp;Nannan Zhang ,&nbsp;Fazhu Zhao ,&nbsp;Jun Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109465","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109465","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Surface mulching with crop straw or plastic film has a great potential in soil carbon (C) sequestration. A 10-yr field experiment on spring maize was conducted in the Loess Plateau of China to compare the impacts of crop straw (SM) and plastic film (FM) mulching on soil microbial C-degradation genes using a metagenomic approach. Compared to those with no mulching (CK), soil C fractions significantly increased under SM while decreased under FM. However, the relative abundance of total microbial C-degradation genes did not change under SM, but was significantly lower by 3.9 % under FM. Specifically, the relative abundance of genes involved in stable C degradation did not vary with mulching, while those in labile C degradation decreased by 14.0 % (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.05) under FM compared to CK. At the gene group level, FM decreased the relative abundances of genes involved in the degradation of monosaccharides, disaccharides, polysaccharides, hemicellulose, cellulose, and chitin by 5.9 %, 9.2 %, 3.3 %, 8.6 %, 8.1 %, and 25.4 % (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.05), respectively, compared to CK. The random forest analysis indicated that the <em>PYG</em> was the predominant gene affecting microbial biomass C, followed by <em>araB</em>, <em>K07046</em>, <em>E3.1.1.11</em>; <em>pectinesterase</em>, and <em>bglB</em>. Genes involved in soil C-degradation were more abundant in <em>Proteobacteria</em> and <em>Actinobacteria</em> than in other phyla. Mantel test showed that soil pH and C:P ratio emerged as the key factors influencing microbial C-degradation genes. Therefore, soil C-degradation potential would be inhibited by long-term mulching practices, especially with plastic film. The combined application of crop straw and plastic film mulching may accomplish the dual objectives of enhancing soil C storage and lowering C-degradation potential in dryland cropping systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"381 ","pages":"Article 109465"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143142427","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Nature–based nutrient management through returning agricultural organic waste enhances soil aggregate organic carbon stability","authors":"Yini Wang ,&nbsp;Yanzhong Yao ,&nbsp;Bingbing Han ,&nbsp;Simon Willcock ,&nbsp;Jonathan Storkey ,&nbsp;Xunzhuo Dong ,&nbsp;Yunyao Zhong ,&nbsp;Xiaozhong Wang ,&nbsp;Yan Deng ,&nbsp;Wei Zhang ,&nbsp;Qirui Li ,&nbsp;Xinping Chen ,&nbsp;Zhaolei Li","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109467","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109467","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Agricultural organic waste can enhance aggregate organic carbon stability, which is crucial for soil carbon sequestration in croplands. However, it is unclear how aggregate organic carbon stability changes with different nature–based nutrient management practices, especially with partial organic substitution. This study aimed to elucidate how different organic wastes (chicken manure, biochar, straw, and carbon–based materials from kitchen waste) influence aggregate organic carbon stability, including aggregate stability, the content of physically protected organic carbon, and the decomposability of aggregate carbon. The improvement of aggregate organic carbon stability was trialed in a 4–year field experiment with equivalent nitrogen and organic carbon input under nature–based nutrient management. The results showed that all nature–based nutrient management practices improved aggregate organic carbon stability compared to no nutrient addition. Biochar application dramatically improved aggregate organic carbon stability by 5.8–11.4 % in aggregate stability, 83.9–152.4 % in aggregate organic carbon, and 36.6–75.0 % in aggregate recalcitrant carbon content. By comparison, straw returning showed the lowest improvement in aggregate organic carbon stability, owing to substantial increases of microbial respiration and enzyme activities involved in carbon degradation. Organic carbon merely increased by 32.3 %, 33.6 %, and 29.5 % in large macroaggregates, small macroaggregates, and microaggregates, respectively. This study dissected the different efficiencies of nature–based nutrient management in improving aggregate organic carbon stability in vegetable fields. The findings highlight that appropriate nature–based nutrient management with organic waste could better implement the carbon neutrality in agroecosystems from the perspective of aggregate organic carbon stability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"381 ","pages":"Article 109467"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143141937","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}