Long-term manure application increased greenhouse gas emissions but had no effect on ammonia volatilization in a Northern China upland field

Tao Zhang; Hongbin Liu; Jiafa Luo; Hongyuan Wang; Limei Zhai; Yucong Geng; Yitao Zhang; Jungai Li; Qiuliang Lei; Muhammad Amjad Bashir; Shuxia Wu; Stuart Lindsey

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.03.069

Long-term manure application increased greenhouse gas emissions but had no effect on ammonia volatilization in a Northern China upland field

Sci Total Environ. 2018 Aug 15:633:230-239. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.03.069. Epub 2018 Mar 22.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Nonpoint Source Pollution Control, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing 10081, PR China.
² AgResearch, Ruakura Research Centre, 10 Bisley Road, Hamilton 3214, New Zealand.
³ Key Laboratory of Nonpoint Source Pollution Control, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing 10081, PR China. Electronic address: wanghongyuan@caas.cn.

PMID: 29574366
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.03.069

Abstract

The impacts of manure application on soil ammonia (NH₃) volatilization and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are of interest for both agronomic and environmental reasons. However, how the swine manure addition affects greenhouse gas and N emissions in North China Plain wheat fields is still unknown. A long-term fertilization experiment was carried out on a maize-wheat rotation system in Northern China (Zea mays L-Triticum aestivum L.) from 1990 to 2017. The experiment included four treatments: (1) No fertilizer (CK), (2) single application of chemical fertilizers (NPK), (3) NPK plus 22.5t/ha swine manure (NPKM), (4) NPK plus 33.7t/ha swine manure (NPKM+). A short-term fertilization experiment was conducted from 2016 to 2017 using the same treatments in a field that had been abandoned for decades. The emissions of NH₃ and GHGs were measured during the wheat season from 2016 to 2017. Results showed that after long-term fertilization the wheat yields for NPKM treatment were 7105kg/ha, which were higher than NPK (3880kg/ha) and NPKM+ treatments (5518kg/ha). The wheat yields were similar after short-term fertilization (6098-6887kg/ha). The NH₃-N emission factors (EF_amm) for NPKM and NPKM+ treatments (1.1 and 1.1-1.4%, respectively) were lower than NPK treatment (2.2%) in both the long and short-term fertilization treatments. In the long- and short-term experiments the nitrous oxide (N₂O) emission factors (EF_nit) for NPKM+ treatment were 4.2% and 3.7%, respectively, which were higher than for the NPK treatment (3.5% and 2.5%, respectively) and the NPKM treatment (3.6% and 2.2%, respectively). In addition, under long and short-term fertilization, the greenhouse gas intensities for the NPKM+ treatment were 33.7 and 27.0kg CO₂-eq/kg yield, respectively, which were higher than for the NPKM treatment (22.8 and 21.1kg CO₂-eq/kg yield, respectively). These results imply that excessive swine manure application does not increase yield but increases GHG emissions.

Keywords: Ammonia volatilization; Greenhouse gas emissions; Greenhouse gas intensity; Long-term fertilization effect; Swine manure application.