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Effects of Long-term Fertilization on Soil Physical Properties and Aggregate Organic Carbon Accumulation in Paddy Soils of Dongting Lake Region, China
Received:November 27, 2014  
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KeyWord:fertilization;paddy soil;physical properties;soil aggregates;organic carbon;Dongting Lake region
Author NameAffiliation
LI Wen-jun Hunan University of Arts and Science, Changde, 415000, China
State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China 
PENG Bao-fa Hunan University of Arts and Science, Changde, 415000, China 
ZHOU Shi-biao Hunan University of Arts and Science, Changde, 415000, China 
WANG Ya-li Hunan University of Arts and Science, Changde, 415000, China 
CHEN Duan-lü Hunan University of Arts and Science, Changde, 415000, China 
TONG De-bao Agricultural Bureau of Hanshou County, Hanshou 415900, China 
LI Hong-zhuan Agricultural Bureau of Hanshou County, Hanshou 415900, China 
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Abstract:
      Soil physical properties and organic carbon are important indexes of soil quality, which are sensitive to fertilization practices. Based on a 27-year fertilization experiment on paddy field in Dongting Lake region, China, the responses of soil physical properties and dry sieved aggregate-associated organic carbon to applications of nitrogen(N), phosphorus(P) and potassium(K) mineral fertilizers with or without organic manure were studied at 0~20 cm and 20~40 cm soil layers. Compared to long-term unfertilized treatments, the soil total porosity and field moisture capacity in the two soil layers under fertilizer application increased by 2.6%~8.3% and -3.0%~23.5%, respectively, while the soil bulk density decreased by 3.0%~11.6%,which were significant(P<0.05) at 0~20 cm layer but not at 20~40 cm layer. The amount of soil aggregates in the >5 mm group decreased after long-term fertilization, while the proportions of aggregates in 2~5 mm and 0.5~2 mm groups increased significantly(P<0.05) by 57.3%~94.3% and 25.8%~103.8%, respectively, in two soil layers. These meant that the physical structure of paddy soil was improved by long-term fertilization. Along with aggregates size decreasing, the contents of aggregates-associated organic carbon increased, but storages presented an opposite trend. Both mineral and organic fertilizers applications significantly(P<0.05) increased the organic carbon contents in various size classes of aggregates, but such effects decreased with increasing soil depths. Organic carbon storages in the <5 mm aggregates in two soil layers were significantly higher in all fertilization treatments(P<0.05)than those of no fertilizer treatment, but the storages of aggregates-associated organic carbon in the 2~5 mm and 0.5~2 mm aggregates were more sensitive to long-term fertilization than in others. It can be concluded that the improvements of soil quality varied with different fertilization modes. Combined application of N, P, K fertilizers and organic manure was better than balanced application of N, P, K fertilizers in improving soil physical properties and enhancing carbon sequestration in aggregates. With increasing rates of manure applications, the improvement of soil quality would become more distinct.