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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Abstract
Agricultural soils are deficient of phosphorus (P) worldwide. Phosphatic fertilizers are therefore applied to agricultural soils
to improve the fertility and to increase the crop yield. However, the effect of phosphorus application on soil N2O emissions
has rarely been studied. Therefore, we conducted a laboratory study to investigate the effects P addition on soil N2O emissions from P deficient alluvial soil under two levels of nitrogen (N) fertilizer and soil moisture. Treatments were arranged
as follows: P (0 and 20 mg P kg1) was applied to soil under two moisture levels of 60 and 90% water filled pore space
(WFPS). Each P and moisture treatment was further treated with two levels of N fertilizer (0 and 200 mg N kg1 as urea).
Soil variables including mineral nitrogen (NH4+-N and NO3-N), available P, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and soil N2O
emissions were measured throughout the study period of 50 days. Results showed that addition of P increased N2O emissions either under 60% WFPS or 90% WFPS conditions. Higher N2O emissions were observed under 90% WFPS when
compared to 60% WFPS. Application of N fertilizer also enhanced N2O emissions and the highest emissions were 141
g N2O kg1 h1 in P+N treatment under 90% WFPS. The results of the present study suggest that P application markedly
increases soil N2O emissions under both low and high soil moisture levels, and either with or without N fertilizer application.
Keywords: phosphorus, N2O emission, water filled pore space, nitrogen, greenhouse gas
1. Introduction
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas that has the
ability to destroy ozone (O3) layer in the stratosphere. The
concentration of N2O in the atmosphere has been increasing and reached up to 120% from 270 to 324 ppb during
1750 to 2011 (Bouwman et al. 2013). Agricultural soil is the
main source of N2O emission contributing about 60% global
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3. Results
3.1. N2O emission
Addition of P, N fertilizer and moisture levels significantly
(P<0.05) influenced soil N2O emissions (Table 2). Application of P significantly (P<0.05) increased N2O emissions,
with higher magnitudes from 90% WFPS when compared to
60% WFPS (Fig. 1-A and B). Nitrogen fertilizer application
also significantly (P<0.05) increased N2O emissions and the
highest magnitude was 141 g kg1 h1 in P+N treatment
under 90% WFPS. Higher N2O emissions were observed at
the beginning of the study, and steadily declined afterwards
until end of the study. Cumulative N2O emissions were also
the highest in P+N treatment under 90% WFPS (Fig. 2-A).
Total C (g kg1) Total N ( g kg1) Available P (mg kg1) Bulk density (g cm3) Sand (%)
23.7
1.5
10
1.1
12
Silt (%)
60
Clay (%)
28
Texture
Silty clay loam
Table 2 Results of analysis of variance (ANOVA) for the main and interactive effect of phosphorus, nitrogen and moisture on soil
variables
Factors1)
M
N
P
PN
MN
MP
MNP
1)
2)
N 2O
F-value
55.6
49.3
42.3
41.5
33.0
60.4
123.2
NH4+-N
P-value
0.000
0.000
0.003
0.019
0.004
0.001
0.002
F-value
35.3
65.1
71.1
60.9
71.6
46.2
87.8
P-value
0.001
0.000
0.000
0.017
0.005
0.003
0.001
NO3-N
F-value
P-value
45.0
0.002
35.9
0.000
61.1
0.003
89.1
0.018
91.0
0.000
81.1
0.003
71.0
0.000
P
F-value
15.0
68.9
89.0
99.2
88.2
78.8
62.1
DOC2)
P-value
0.001
0.000
0.005
0.026
0.002
0.005
0.004
F-value
22.4
20.9
44.0
29.2
31.0
45.5
67.0
P-value
0.000
0.000
0.004
0.011
0.003
0.001
0.005
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CK
N+P
200
B 200
180
180
160
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
120
100
80
60
40
20
20
0
140
10
20
30
40
50
10
20
30
40
50
Fig. 1 N2O emissios from soil under different moisture levels of 60% water filled pore space (WFPS, A) and 90% WFPS (B). CK,
control; N, nitrogen fertilizer; P, phosphorus fertilizer. Vertical bars denote standard error (n=3). The same as below.
CK
A
N+P
1 200
1 200
1 000
1 000
800
600
400
200
0
10
20
30
40
Incubation time (d)
50
800
600
400
200
0
10
20
30
40
Incubation time (d)
50
Fig. 2 Cumulative N2O emissios from soil under different moisture levels of 60% WFPS (A) and 90% WFPS (B).
was at the start and steadily decreased until the end of the
study (Fig. 4-A).
Addition of P and N fertilizers significantly (P<0.05) enhanced available P concentration. However, 90% WFPS
yielded higher available P concentration as compared to
60% WFPS. The highest available P concentration (42
mg kg1) was observed in P application alone treatment on
day 1 under 90% WFPS. High available P concentration
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CK
N+P
60% WFPS
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
10
20
30
40
Incubation time (d)
50
60
140
60% WFPS
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
B
140
10
20
30
40
Incubation time (d)
50
60
P
140
90% WFPS
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
140
10
20
30
40
Incubation time (d)
50
60
20
30
40
Incubation time (d)
50
60
90% WFPS
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
10
Fig. 3 Dynamics of soil NH4+-N and NO3-N concentrations under 60% WFPS (A and C) and 90% WFPS (B and D) conditions.
4. Discussion
Previous research has demonstrated that soil N2O emission
is influenced by various soils properties. However, the influence of different soil nutrients, particularly soil P on N2O
emission remains unclear. The present study demonstrated
that P addition increased N2O emission in P-deficient alluvial
soil. Earlier studies have shown contrasting effects of P
addition on soil N2O emissions. A laboratory experiment
conducted by Mori et al. (2010) demonstrated that P application to soil increased N2O emissions. In another study,
P-deficient soils showed low N2O emissions due to limitation
of P to denitrifiers (Mori et al. 2013a). In contrast, reduction in N2O emissions following P addition has also been
reported (Mori et al. 2014; Wang et al. 2014). Reduction in
soil N2O emissions could be due to addition of P increased
N immobilization and, therefore, decreased denitrification
and nitrification (Sundareshwar et al. 2003). Phosphorus
application reduced N2O emissions primarily due to the enhancement of root uptake of soil N during Acacia mangium
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CK
60% WFPS
40
30
20
10
0
10
50
20
30
40
Incubation time (d)
50
60% WFPS
30
20
10
0
10
20
30
40
Incubation time (d)
50
N+P
200
90% WFPS
160
120
80
40
0
10
60
20
30
40
50
40
50
90% WFPS
200
160
120
80
40
0
10
20
30
40
Incubation time (d)
50
60
Fig. 4 Dynamics of available phosphorus and dissolved organic carbon under 60% WFPS (A and C) and 90% WFPS (B and D)
conditions.
5. Conclusion
Addition of P fertilizer markedly increased soil N2O emissions. Increasing soil moisture and N fertilizer application
also enhanced N2O emissions. The combined application
of P and N pronounced N2O emissions as compared to their
Acknowledgements
This research work was supported by the National Basic
Research Program of China (2012CB417106), and the
National Natural Science Foundation of China (41171212).
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