Abstract:
Objectives This study aimed to investigate the effect of controlled-release nitrogen fertilizer and nitrogen reduction on soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in the winter green manure-summer maize rotation system of the capital region.
Methods A field experiment was carried out in Tianjin consecutively in 2023 and 2024, the six treatments included winter fallow+conventional urea (F100), green manure+conventional urea (GF100), green manure+controlled-release urea (GS100), green manure+controlled-release urea under 30% N reduction (GS70), GS70+biochar (GS70C), and green manure+controlled-release urea under 45% N reduction+biochar (GS55C). Maize yield, annual emission flux and cumulative emission of N2O, soil pH, carbon and nitrogen content, and soil enzyme activity were measured.
Results GF100 treatment exhibited the highest maize yield, followed by GS100 treatment, both significantly higher than F100 treatment, while GS55C treatment was recorded 12.5% and 7.2% lower yield in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Compared to F100, GF100 exhibited comparable annual N2O emissions in 2023 but 7.6% higher N2O emissions in 2024. GS100 reduced annual N2O emissions by 11.7% and 19.0% respectively over two years compared to GF100. The GS70 treatment further reduced N2O emissions by 22.3% and 15.3%, relative to GS100 treatment. There was no significant difference in N2O emissions between GS70C and GS70, while the N2O emissions of GS55C treatment was 14.5% and 15.4% lower than those of GS70C. Adding biochar can increase soil pH, with the highest pH values observed in GS70C and GS55C treatments. Compared to F100, GF100 significantly increased the content of soil ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) and nitrate nitrogen (NO3−-N). All the five green manure treatments significantly enhanced the activities of β-glucosidase (BG) and β-cellulase (CEL). Controlled release nitrogen fertilizer treatments significantly reduced the activities of nitrate reductase (NR) and nitrite reductase (NIR). Compared with GF100, the soil NR and NIR activities in GS100 treatment decreased significantly by 18.4% and 14.8%, respectively. The treatments of GS70, GS70C, and GS55C further reduced the activity of NR and NIR, and under the same application rate of controlled-release nitrogen fertilizer, the addition of biochar had no effect on NR activity, but significantly reduced NIR activity. The correlation analysis results indicated that maize yield was negatively correlated with soil C/N, and positively correlated with soil enzyme activity (urease, NR, NIR), soil NH4+-N, NO3−-N, and total nitrogen content. N2O emissions were significantly positively correlated with soil NO3−-N, NR, and NIR, and negatively correlated with soil pH, organic carbon, total nitrogen content, BG, and CEL.
Conclusions The combination of green manure and conventional fertilization increases N2O emissions, while the combination with controlled-release nitrogen fertilizer significantly reduced N2O emissions, and reducing the nitrogen input will further strength the emission reduction effects. Comprehensively considering the maize yield and N2O emission reduction, green manure combined with controlled-release nitrogen fertilizer under 30% reduction is recommended for maintaining stable maize yield and reducing soil N2O emission in the capital area.