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Residue decomposition and priming of soil organic carbon following different NPK fertilizer histories
Author(s) -
You Mengyang,
Li LuJun,
Tian Qing,
He Peng,
He Guiping,
Hao XiangXiang,
Horwath William R.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.1002/saj2.20142
Subject(s) - mineralization (soil science) , chemistry , soil carbon , fertilizer , human fertilization , agronomy , crop residue , residue (chemistry) , soil water , incubation , nitrogen , zoology , soil science , biology , environmental science , ecology , biochemistry , organic chemistry , agriculture
The effect of mineral fertilizer practices on increasing crop yield has been well studied, but few studies have examined the influence of various long‐term subtractive fertilization designs on the decomposition of crop residues or the influence on soil organic carbon (SOC) levels. To assess the combined effects of the long‐term (27‐yr) subtractive fertilizer inputs on SOC mineralization rates, we studied the change in added 13 C‐labeled corn ( Zea mays L.) stem and leaf residue decomposition and the magnitude of priming effect (PE) on SOC in a 56‐d lab incubation. The long‐term history of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) combinations showed that coupling N and P fertilization had a strong effect on SOC content which increased by 6% relative to the unfertilized treatment. Soil organic C mineralization rates with no residue added were highest in soils that received N, P, and K. Cumulative CO 2 production in soils amended with residue was significantly affected by residue type and was 9–19% higher for leaves than stems across treatments with varied fertilization histories. After a 56‐d incubation 14–16% of leaf C and 18–19% of stem C was mineralized. The cumulative PE was significantly higher in the unfertilized soil with leaf addition but was not affected by residue type in other treatments. Our data showed that crop residue decomposition and SOC is affected by historical N, P, and K fertilization, with long‐term complete NPK application resulting in greater SOC content and slower SOC mineralization rates with corn leaf addition.