Sewage sludge application stimulated soil N 2 O emissions with a low heavy metal pollution risk in Eucalyptus plantations

Sewage sludge (SS) has been extensively used as an alternative fertilizer in forest plantations, which are beneficial in supplying timbers and mitigating climate change. However, whether the extra nitrogen (N) applied by SS would enhance the soil nitrous oxide (N O) emission, an important greenhouse...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of environmental management 2023-08, Vol.339, p.117933
Main Authors: Liu, Jieyi, Jiang, Linfang, Zhang, Xiying, Fu, Bangxia, He, Ziqing, Chen, Mingzhu, Zeng, Shucai, Zhao, Qian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agriculture
China
Eucalyptus
Fertilizers - analysis
Metals, Heavy
Nitrogen - analysis
Nitrous Oxide - analysis
Sewage
Soil - chemistry
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Sewage sludge (SS) has been extensively used as an alternative fertilizer in forest plantations, which are beneficial in supplying timbers and mitigating climate change. However, whether the extra nitrogen (N) applied by SS would enhance the soil nitrous oxide (N O) emission, an important greenhouse gas, in forest plantations have not been well understood. The objective of this study is to evaluate the ecological effects of SS application on soils, by investigating the soil N O emission and the toxicity of the potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in soil. A field fertilization experiment was conducted in Eucalyptus plantations with four fertilization rates (0 kg m , 1.5 kg m , 3.0 kg m , and 4.5 kg m ). The soil N O emissions were monitored at a soil depth of 0-10 cm using static chamber method, soil chemical properties, and PTEs were determined at soil depths of 0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, and 20-40 cm. The average soil N O emission rate was 8.1 μg N O-N h m in plots without SS application (control). The application of SS significantly increased the soil N O emissions by 7-10 times as to control. The increased N O emissions were positively related to the soil total phosphorus and nitrogen and negatively correlated with copper and zinc, which increased with the SS application. However, the potential ecological risk index (E ) and the comprehensive potential ecological risk index (RI) of PTEs were lower than 40 and 150 respectively, which indicating a low toxicity of PTEs to soil health. After seven months of SS application, the priming effects of SS on soil N O emissions gradually diminished. These findings suggest that the application of SS may increase N O emissions at the initial stages of application (
ISSN:1095-8630
DOI:10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117933