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Effects of plastic film mulching with drip irrigation on N2O and CH4 emissions from cotton fields in arid land

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2013

Z. LI
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430074, China
R. ZHANG
Affiliation:
Wuhan Vegetable Research Institute, Wuhan 430065, China
X. WANG
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
F. CHEN
Affiliation:
Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430074, China
D. LAI
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
C. TIAN*
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
*
*To whom all correspondence should be addressed. Email: [email protected]

Summary

To evaluate the effects of a modern cultivation system of plastic film mulching with drip irrigation (MD) on soil greenhouse gas fluxes, methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes were quantified and contrasted in an MD system and a traditional system of mulch-free flood-irrigated (MFF) cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) in fields of northwest China. The results showed that soil N2O flux and the absorption rate of CH4 were lower in the MD than the MFF sites. A possible reason for the higher CH4 emissions at MD sites was that the relatively low gaseous oxygen (O2) availability and high ammonium (NH4+) content in the MD soil increased CH4 generation by methanogens and decreased CH4 oxidation by methanotrophs. The lower N2O in the MD sites may be due to an increase of soil denitrification by Thiobacillus denitrificans that reduced some nitrous compounds further into nitrogen gas (N2). Taking into account the global warming potentials of CH4 and N2O in a 100-year time horizon, during the entire growth period, the contribution of CH4 to the greenhouse effect was significantly lower than N2O in these two treatments. Considering these two greenhouse gas fluxes together, a transition from non-mulching cultivation to mulching cultivation could reduce atmospheric emissions by c. 20 g CO2 e m2/season. Based on these findings and previous studies, it can be concluded that mulched-drip irrigation cultivation is a good way to decrease the emission of greenhouse gases and reduce the global warming impact of arid farmlands.

Type
Climate Change and Agriculture Research Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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