Comparative effects of long-term conventional tillage and no-till systems on greenhouse gas emissions in continuous maize monoculture soil in a semi-arid temperate climate

• Published in: Arabian journal of geosciences 2021-02, Vol.14 (3), Article 181
• Main Authors: Jiao, Shuai, Sui, Biao, Wang, Hongbin, Chen, Baoyu, Xomphoutheb, Thidaphone, Zhao, Xingmin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural land; Agricultural practices; Air pollution; Aridity; Biological fertilization; Carbon dioxide; Climate change; Corn; Depth; Diffusion; Diffusion layers; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth science; Earth Sciences; Emissions; Fertilization; Fluctuations; Fluxes; Gases; Geological Modeling and Geospatial Data Analysis; Global warming; Gmgda 2019; Greenhouse effect; Greenhouse gases; Jointing; Methane; Methods; Moisture content; Monoculture; Monoculture (aquaculture); Nitrous oxide; Soil; Soil depth; Soil investigations; Soil layers; Soil moisture; Soil profiles; Soil properties; Soil temperature; Soil testing; Tillage; Water content
• ISSN: 1866-7511; 1866-7538
• DOI: 10.1007/s12517-021-06472-1

Agricultural tillage practices play an important role in the production and consumption of greenhouse gases (GHGs) that contribute substantially to the global warming. To explore GHG diffusion characteristic and seek for environment-friendly tillage methods, four tillage systems consisting of continuous rotary tillage (CR), continuous no tillage (CN), ploughing-rotary tillage (PR), and ploughing-no tillage (PN) were designed, and vertical variations of GHG concentrations under different tillage systems were investigated. Mean CO 2 concentration in the soil profile was increased significantly with the increase of soil depth. Higher soil moisture promoted CO 2 production. However, the influence of soil temperature on the content of CO 2 was not obvious. The concentrations of CH 4 in soil at 0–20-cm depth were greater than that of 20–40 cm, which was mainly affected by fertilization. The trend of N 2 O concentration variation in soil was consistent with that of CO 2 . The diffusion flux of CO 2 in soil was all positive, and it changes greatly in the whole growth cycle of maize, which had obvious correlation with precipitation. The CH 4 diffusion flux decreased with the increase of soil depth, and the change trend of 0–20-cm soil layer diffusion flux was consistent with the gas concentration. The 20–40-cm soil layer fluctuated greatly, which was mainly affected by water content, and the whole value was negative after jointing. The trend of N 2 O diffusion flux was similar to that of CH 4 . In the whole maize growth period, except for CH 4 in 20–40-cm soil layer, the cumulative diffusion fluxes of greenhouse gases in each treatment were all positive, indicating that the whole farmland soil was the emission source of greenhouse gases. The effect of three greenhouse gases on greenhouse effect was CO 2 > N 2 O > CH 4 , and the comprehensive warming potential of different tillage methods was CN > CR > PR> PN. So PN is the best tillage mode to reduce GHG emissions in soil profile under the test conditions.