TY - JOUR
T1 - How long-term chemical fertilization of sloping cropland enhances yield and fertility without compromising coil structure
AU - Xu, Mingxiang
AU - Li, Qiang
AU - Bowker, Matthew
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was financially supported by the Special Program for Basic Research of the Ministry of Science and Technology, China (2014FY210100), the Key Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KJZD-EW-TZ-G10), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41171422). We express our gratitude to Dr. Nancy Johnson, professor at Northern Arizona University, and the anonymous reviewers and editors for their constructive comments and suggestions.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, HARD Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - We studied the effects of the long-term (17 years) application of different chemical fertilizer regimes on soil N and its inorganic fractions in relation to the soil physical properties in a sloping cropland in the hilly Loess Plateau. Seven treatments comprised of two factors were arranged within a randomized complete block design. As expected, crop yield increased 2-4-fold, but soil structure did not degrade. Under long-term fertilization, the portion of the small aggregates (<2 mm) and sand content were significantly decreased while the large aggregates (>2 mm) and the silt content increased by 276% and 7.4%, respectively, as compared with those in areas without fertilization. Moreover, the various continuous chemical fertilization treatments increased SOC content by 12.9% and total N by 12.4%, on average, compared with unfertilized plots. The SOC, total N, and shoot C, shoot N had close relationships with the large aggregates (>2 mm) and the clay content. The results suggest that, in this setting, the long-term addition of both N and P may sustain soil quality of an infertile sloping cropland in this region, compared to agriculture without fertilizer or applications of N alone.
AB - We studied the effects of the long-term (17 years) application of different chemical fertilizer regimes on soil N and its inorganic fractions in relation to the soil physical properties in a sloping cropland in the hilly Loess Plateau. Seven treatments comprised of two factors were arranged within a randomized complete block design. As expected, crop yield increased 2-4-fold, but soil structure did not degrade. Under long-term fertilization, the portion of the small aggregates (<2 mm) and sand content were significantly decreased while the large aggregates (>2 mm) and the silt content increased by 276% and 7.4%, respectively, as compared with those in areas without fertilization. Moreover, the various continuous chemical fertilization treatments increased SOC content by 12.9% and total N by 12.4%, on average, compared with unfertilized plots. The SOC, total N, and shoot C, shoot N had close relationships with the large aggregates (>2 mm) and the clay content. The results suggest that, in this setting, the long-term addition of both N and P may sustain soil quality of an infertile sloping cropland in this region, compared to agriculture without fertilizer or applications of N alone.
KW - Optimal fertilizer treatment
KW - Physical properties
KW - Soil microbial biomass carbon
KW - Soil nitrogen fractions
KW - Soil organic carbon
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U2 - 10.15244/pjoes/69031
DO - 10.15244/pjoes/69031
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85029616353
SN - 1230-1485
VL - 26
SP - 1797
EP - 1807
JO - Polish Journal of Environmental Studies
JF - Polish Journal of Environmental Studies
IS - 4
ER -