Interacting Effects of Cover Crop and Soil Microbial Community Composition on Nitrous Oxide Production in No-till Soils

Interacting Effects of Cover Crop and Soil Microbial Community Composition on Nitrous Oxide Production in No-till Soils PDF Author: Shiva Ladan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an atmospheric constituent that contributes to climate warming and stratospheric ozone depletion. A large fraction of the anthropogenic N2O emission originates from agricultural soils suggesting therefore a strong connection between N2O accumulation in the atmosphere and agricultural land management. During the last 2-3 decades, no-till (NT) farming and integration of cover crops into crop rotation represent two major developments in agriculture, but much remains to be learned about the impact of these management approaches on N2O emission and underlying biological soil factors. This dissertation focuses on the contribution of different components of the soil microflora to N2O production, and how different types of cover crops (legume vs grass) affect the soil microbial community composition, mineral N availability, and N2O emission in plowed (PT) and NT soils. To address these questions, several laboratory and greenhouse experiments were conducted. Results of these experiments documented soil microbial community responses to cover crop addition and could inform the selection of cover crops most suitable to soils under different tillage practices.

Interacting Effects of Cover Crop and Soil Microbial Community Composition on Nitrous Oxide Production in No-till Soils

Interacting Effects of Cover Crop and Soil Microbial Community Composition on Nitrous Oxide Production in No-till Soils PDF Author: Shiva Ladan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an atmospheric constituent that contributes to climate warming and stratospheric ozone depletion. A large fraction of the anthropogenic N2O emission originates from agricultural soils suggesting therefore a strong connection between N2O accumulation in the atmosphere and agricultural land management. During the last 2-3 decades, no-till (NT) farming and integration of cover crops into crop rotation represent two major developments in agriculture, but much remains to be learned about the impact of these management approaches on N2O emission and underlying biological soil factors. This dissertation focuses on the contribution of different components of the soil microflora to N2O production, and how different types of cover crops (legume vs grass) affect the soil microbial community composition, mineral N availability, and N2O emission in plowed (PT) and NT soils. To address these questions, several laboratory and greenhouse experiments were conducted. Results of these experiments documented soil microbial community responses to cover crop addition and could inform the selection of cover crops most suitable to soils under different tillage practices.

The Effect of Cover Crop Choice on Nitrous Oxide Emissions and Soil N Dynamics in a California Vineyard Agroecosystem

The Effect of Cover Crop Choice on Nitrous Oxide Emissions and Soil N Dynamics in a California Vineyard Agroecosystem PDF Author: Jonathan Vick
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781369795554
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) with a global warming potential (GWP) 298 times greater than CO2. Cover crops, those crops grown other than the cash crop, offer a range of benefits for growers. However, cover crops also serve as inputs of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), that can stimulate microbial N2O emissions. Vineyard agroecosystems represent a unique case for studying the effects of cover crops on N2O emissions as vineyard cover crops are generally non-fertilized and rain-fed. A two-year field study and accompanying laboratory incubation was conducted to examine the effects of three cover crop treatments (a legume mix, a ‘soil builder’ mix, and perennial ryegrass) and a fallow control on soil GHG emissions and soil N-dynamics. N2O emissions over the course of the study period did not show significant differences, with emissions ranging from 550 ± 202 g N2O-N ha−1 from the fallow soil to 951 ± 135 g N2O-N ha−1 from the ryegrass planted soil. Precipitation patterns were an important driver of N2O emissions. The laboratory incubation results showed N2O emissions from the legume mix planted soil to be an order of magnitude higher than the other treatments, with denitrification as the pathway responsible for the observed differences in gaseous N production rates. Additionally, patterns of N-transformations exhibited treatment differences, suggesting that two years of cover cropping influenced soil microbial community behavior.

Climate Change Impacts on Soil Processes and Ecosystem Properties

Climate Change Impacts on Soil Processes and Ecosystem Properties PDF Author:
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0444638687
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
Climate Change Impacts on Soil Processes and Ecosystem Properties, Volume 35 presents current and emerging soil science research around the areas of soil processes and climate change, also evaluating future research needs. The book combines the five areas of soil science (microbiology, physics, fertility, pedology, and chemistry) to give a comprehensive assessment. This integration of topics is rarely done in a single publication due to the disciplinary nature of the soil science areas, so users will find it to be a comprehensive resource on the topic. Provides an analysis of all areas of soil science in the context of climate change impact on soil processes and ecosystem properties Presents information that is displayed in an accessible form for practitioners and disciplines outside of soil science Contains a concluding section in each chapter which assesses key areas Includes a discussion on future research and direction

Agroecosystem Diversity

Agroecosystem Diversity PDF Author: Gilles Lemaire
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0128110511
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 478

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Book Description
Agro-Ecosystem Diversity: Impact on Food Security and Environmental Quality presents cutting-edge exploration of developing novel farming systems and introduces landscape ecology to agronomy. It encompasses the broad range of links between agricultural development and ecological impact and how to limit the potential negative results. Presented in seven sections, each focusing on a specific challenge to sustaining diversity, the book provides insights toward the argument that by re-introducing diversity, it should be possible to maintain a high level of productivity of agro-ecosystems while also maintaining and/or restoring a satisfactory level of environment quality and biodiversity. Demonstrates that diversified agro-ecosystems can be intensified with environmental quality preserved, restored and enhanced Includes analysis of economic constraints leading to specialization of farms and regions and the social locking forces resisting to diversification of agro-ecosystems Presents a global vision of world agriculture and the tradeoff between a necessary increase in food production and restoring environment quality

Linking Soil Microbiology and Environmental Conditions to Variability in Nitrous Oxide Production in Bioenergy Cropping Systems

Linking Soil Microbiology and Environmental Conditions to Variability in Nitrous Oxide Production in Bioenergy Cropping Systems PDF Author: David Sean Duncan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Agroecosystems may differ in multiple ecosystem properties, among them nitrous oxide (N2O) production and soil microbial community composition. We hypothesized that perenniality, plant species richness, and exogenous nitrogen inputs all influence N2O production directly through regulation of substrate concentrations and other environmental conditions and indirectly through changes to soil microbial functional characteristics. We studied the interplay among cropping systems, microbial communities, and N2O production in the context of an agronomic trial of potential bioenergy feedstock cropping systems. We measured N2O production from 2009-2014 and collected accompanying data on soil temperature, water-filled pore space, and inorganic nitrogen concentrations. Individual N2O fluxes and aggregate annual N2O emissions were lower in perennial systems relative to annual ones, but were not consistently influenced by plant species richness in perennial systems. Environmental variables defined upper limits for N2O fluxes, but did little to explain cropping system effects or their lack. We explored microbial community differences between continuous corn and prairie systems using membrane lipid profiling, amplicon sequencing, and functional gene annotations from shotgun metagenomic sequencing. The strength of cropping system effects differed among methods, with the strongest effects observed in lipid profiles. We used elastic net modeling to correlate community profiles to aggregate N2O emissions. Only the corn system could be effectively modeled, with the best models created from 16S rRNA amplicons and functional gene abundances. We used bacterial functional gene abundance profiles to characterize microbial communities across a broader range of cropping systems. The strength of cropping system effects varied among site years. Ecological factors such as perenniality and species diversity did not determine abundance patterns for either the full set of genes explored or for groups of genes with similar functions. Similarly, individual denitrification pathway genes did not systematically differ among cropping systems. Cropping system effects on N2O production and functional gene abundances were weaker than anticipated. Despite this, elastic net modeling linked gene abundance patterns to variation in N2O emissions with considerable accuracy. This indicates that within-cropping system variability in N2O production and functional genes are in some way connected.

Land-use, Landform, and Seasonal-dependent Changes in Microbial Communities and Their Impact on Nitrous Oxide Emission Activities

Land-use, Landform, and Seasonal-dependent Changes in Microbial Communities and Their Impact on Nitrous Oxide Emission Activities PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
The greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) is produced mainly by the microbial processes of nitrification and denitrification. I hypothesized that microbial community structure (composition and abundance) is linked to differences in soil N2O emissions from these two processes. Microbial community composition (type and number of nitrifier and denitrifier genotypes), abundance and N2O emission activity were determined and compared for soils from two landscapes characteristic of the North American prairie pothole region (cultivated vs. uncultivated wetlands). The landscape difference in composition of individual microbial communities was not predictive of soil N2O emissions, indicating that there is redundancy in each microbial community in relation to N2O emission activities. However, community factors influenced the pattern and distribution of N2O emission from the soils of the study site. For example, nitrification was the dominant N2O emitting process for soils of all landforms. However, neither nitrifier amoA abundance nor community composition had predictive relationships with nitrification associated N2O emissions. This lack of relationship may be a consequence of using amoA as the gene target to characterize nitrifiers. For denitrifying bacteria, there was a temporal relationship between community composition and N2O emissions. However, this may be related to the change in water-filled pore space over time. Alternatively, the presence of fungi can be linked directly to N2O emissions from water accumulating landform elements. Under hypoxic conditions, there may be two fungal pathways contributing to N2O release: fungal denitrification via P450nor and fungal heterotrophic nitrification. Results suggest that the relative importance of these two processes is linked to root exudates such as formate. It is the interaction between the seasonal fluctuations of the microbial and environmental factors that determine the level of N2O emissions from soils.

Effects of Management on Selected Soil Properties and Nitrous Oxide Fluxes in Dairy Cropping Systems

Effects of Management on Selected Soil Properties and Nitrous Oxide Fluxes in Dairy Cropping Systems PDF Author: Emily Paige Ball
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
This thesis investigates selected soil properties and management decisions and their effect on nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from agricultural soils. Nitrate, an inorganic form of N, is extremely mobile in soils, making it susceptible to loss through processes like denitrification. Denitrification is an anaerobic microbial process that reduces nitrate to N2 or incompletely to N2O, a potent greenhouse gas. The experimental site for this research was the Sustainable Dairy Cropping System (SDCS) located at Penn States Agronomy Farm. Chapter one is a review of the literature on nitrogen (N) cycling in agriculture, N loss pathways and the management and environmental factors affecting denitrification. This process is driven by soil properties, nitrate availability, and other factors. A prior study in this experiment in 2015 and 2016 found that the driving factors for N2O emissions in some of the same treatments were explained by days after manure application, growing degree days (GDD), and manure rate.Research on the effects of prior crop and management on N2O emissions in a typical PA dairy cropping system is described in chapter two. Labile carbon, total carbon, inorganic N species, and other environmental data were measured to determine their impact on measured N2O fluxes in 2017 and 2018. However, the measured soil and environmental properties in this experiment were not able to explain the observed patterns in N2O emissions through a regression analysis. The highest N2O fluxes were measured in 2018 in Corn after two years of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) + Orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata). Cumulative emissions were more than six times higher than those measured in treatments without a winter cover in the same year.Based on findings in 2017, chapter three investigates the impact of termination timing of Alfalfa+Orchardgrass on spring N2O fluxes and soil properties in 2018. This management decision is becoming more popular in the Northeast as spring conditions become wetter, making the proper timing of spring management events difficult. The findings from this experiment are promising for farmers interested in adopting this management practice as yields did not significantly differ from the subsequent corn crop and although they did not significantly differ, spring cumulative emissions from the spring terminated treatment were more than three times those from the fall terminated treatment. Because N2O emissions were not measured in the fall, however, the comparison of the two treatments in this study was not comprehensive.Chapter four described an investigative study on redox potentials in unsaturated agricultural soils. Equipment constraints and spatial variability made understanding and interpreting these results difficult. There were diurnal trends exhibited in some treatments, reflecting diurnal changes in soil moisture but not others. There also seemed to be stratification in depth, although this trend also differed across treatments. Overall, there is evidence that different crops can facilitate different redox environments and in turn, different microbial processes. However, more research and equipment advances need to take place before redox potential could be considered a useful indicator of microbial processes in unsaturated soils.Finally, the conclusions summarized the major findings of each of these experiments and discussed the impact of sustainable management practices on improving soil resiliency. Implementing sustainable practices like cover cropping and no-till can improve soil, although trade-offs of higher N2O emissions may result. Further research on these practices and their impact on soil properties is necessary as the effects of climate change are becoming more apparent.

Measured and Daycent- Simulated Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Soil Planted to Corn in Dairy Cropping Systems

Measured and Daycent- Simulated Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Soil Planted to Corn in Dairy Cropping Systems PDF Author: Maria Ponce De Leon Jara
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Crop rotations, organic nutrient amendments, reduced tillage practices, and integration of cover crops are practices that have the potential to increase the sustainability of crop production, yet they also impact nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. Agricultural soil management has been estimated to contribute 79% of the total N2O emissions in the U.S., and inorganic nitrogen (N) fertilization is one of the main contributors. Nitrous oxide is a potent greenhouse gas that has a global warming potential which is approximately 298 times that of carbon dioxide (CO2) over a 100-year period and is currently the dominant ozone-depleting substance. Few studies have assessed the effects of organic N amendments on direct N2O within the context of a typical dairy forage cropping system. Most research has been limited to studying the effects of one or two sources of N inputs on N2O emissions; however, dairy forage cropping systems often apply manure and have more than two N sources that likely both contribute to N2O emissions. This study investigated how different dairy cropping practices that include differences in crop residues, N inputs (dairy manure and inorganic fertilizer), timing of N amendment applications and environmental conditions influenced N2O emissions from no-till soil planted to corn (Zea mays L.). A two-year field study was carried out as part of the Pennsylvania State Sustainable Dairy Cropping Systems Experiment, where corn was planted following annual grain crops, perennial forages, and a green manure legume crop; all were amended with dairy manure. In the corn-soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) rotation, N sources (dairy manure and inorganic fertilizer) and two methods of manure application (broadcasted and injected) were also compared.Chapter 1 reviews the scientific literature; describing the biotic and abiotic processes of N2O production in soils, summarizing current research on N2O emissions in agricultural systems, and emphasizing the main management and environmental drivers contributing to the emissions. This chapter reviews methods for matching N supply with crop demand, coupling N flow cycles, using advanced fertilizer techniques, and optimizing tillage management. Also, the applicability and limitations of current research to effectively reduce N2O emissions in a variety of regions are discussed.Chapter 2 analyzes the effect of corn production management practices and environmental conditions contributing to N2O in the Pennsylvania State Sustainable Dairy Cropping Systems Experiment. Significantly higher N2O emissions were observed 15-42 days after manure injection and 1-4 days after mid-season UAN application. Manure injection had 2-3 times greater potential for N2O emissions compared to broadcast manure during this time period. Integration of legumes and grasses in the cropping system reduced inorganic fertilizer use compared to soybean with manure or UAN, however, direct N2O emissions were not reduced. The Random Forest method was used to identify and rank the predictor variables for N2O emissions. The most important variables driving N2O emissions were: time after manure application, time after previous crop termination, soil nitrate, and moisture. These field research results support earlier recommendations for reducing N losses including timing N inputs close to crop uptake, and avoiding N applications when there is a high chance of precipitation to reduce nitrate accumulation in the soil and potential N losses from denitrification.Chapter 3 reports the comparison of N2O fluxes predicted with the biogeochemical model DAYCENT compared to measured data from the two-year dairy cropping systems study. Daily N2O emissions simulated by DAYCENT had between 41% and 76% agreement with measured daily N2O emissions in 2015 and 2016. DAYCENT overestimated the residual inorganic N fertilizer impact on N2O emissions in the corn following soybean with inorganic fertilizer and broadcast manure. Comparisons between DAYCENT simulated and measured N2O fluxes indicate that DAYCENT did not represent well organic N amendments from crop residues of perennials and legume cover crops, or manure application in no-till dairy systems. DAYCENT was generally able to reproduce temporal patterns of soil temperature, but volumetric soil water contents (VSWC) predicted by DAYCENT were generally lower than measured values. After precipitation events, DAYCENT predicted that VSWC tended to rapidly decrease and drain to deeper layers. Both the simulated and measured soil inorganic N increased with N fertilizer addition; however, the model tended to underestimate soil inorganic N concentration in the 0-5 cm layer. Our results suggest that DAYCENT overestimated the residual N impact of inorganic fertilizer on N2O emissions and mineralization of organic residues and nitrification happened faster than DAYCENT predicted. Chapter 4 highlights the impact of manure injection and the importance of timing organic N amendments from manures and/or crop residue with crop N uptake to mitigate N2O emissions. More research is needed to better understand the tradeoffs of these strategies in no till dairy cropping systems to help farmers in their operational management decisions. Improving the parametrization of DAYCENT for dairy cropping systems in no-till systems with high surface legume crop residues from perennials and cover crops, will make the model a more useful tool for testing different mitigation scenarios for farmers and policy-designer decision making.

Phosphorus in Action

Phosphorus in Action PDF Author: Else K. Bünemann
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642152716
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 485

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Book Description
Phosphorus (P) is a finite resource which is essential for life. It is a limiting nutrient in many ecosystems but also a pollutant which can affect biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems and change the ecology of water bodies. This book collects the latest information on biological processes in soil P cycling, which to date have remained much less understood than physico-chemical processes. The methods section presents spectroscopic techniques and the characterization of microbial P forms, as well as the use of tracers, molecular approaches and modeling of soil-plant systems. The section on processes deals with mycorrhizal symbioses, microbial P solubilization, soil macrofauna, phosphatase enzymes and rhizosphere processes. On the system level, P cycling is examined for grasslands, arctic and alpine soils, forest plantations, tropical forests, and dryland regions. Further, P management with respect to animal production and cropping, and the interactions between global change and P cycling, are treated.

Linking Soil Microbiology and Environmental Conditions to Variability in Nitrous Oxide Production in Bioenergy Cropping Systems

Linking Soil Microbiology and Environmental Conditions to Variability in Nitrous Oxide Production in Bioenergy Cropping Systems PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 285

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Book Description
Agroecosystems may differ in multiple ecosystem properties, among them nitrous oxide (N2O) production and soil microbial community composition. We hypothesized that perenniality, plant species richness, and exogenous nitrogen inputs all influence N2O production directly through regulation of substrate concentrations and other environmental conditions and indirectly through changes to soil microbial functional characteristics. We studied the interplay among cropping systems, microbial communities, and N2O production in the context of an agronomic trial of potential bioenergy feedstock cropping systems. We measured N2O production from 2009-2014 and collected accompanying data on soil temperature, water-filled pore space, and inorganic nitrogen concentrations. Individual N2O fluxes and aggregate annual N2O emissions were lower in perennial systems relative to annual ones, but were not consistently influenced by plant species richness in perennial systems. Environmental variables defined upper limits for N2O fluxes, but did little to explain cropping system effects or their lack. We explored microbial community differences between continuous corn and prairie systems using membrane lipid profiling, amplicon sequencing, and functional gene annotations from shotgun metagenomic sequencing. The strength of cropping system effects differed among methods, with the strongest effects observed in lipid profiles. We used elastic net modeling to correlate community profiles to aggregate N2O emissions. Only the corn system could be effectively modeled, with the best models created from 16S rRNA amplicons and functional gene abundances. We used bacterial functional gene abundance profiles to characterize microbial communities across a broader range of cropping systems. The strength of cropping system effects varied among site years. Ecological factors such as perenniality and species diversity did not determine abundance patterns for either the full set of genes explored or for groups of genes with similar functions. Similarly, individual denitrification pathway genes did not systematically differ among cropping systems. Cropping system effects on N2O production and functional gene abundances were weaker than anticipated. Despite this, elastic net modeling linked gene abundance patterns to variation in N2O emissions with considerable accuracy. This indicates that within-cropping system variability in N2O production and functional genes are in some way connected.