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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Greenhouse gas emissions and net ecosystem carbon budget from tobacco-planted soil with different organic amendments

Pengwei Yao https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0813-5789 A E , Haodong Pan A E , Yihe Qin A , Zhen Zhang A , Jing Wang https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1544-1699 A , Xueli Li B , Xiaoping Liu C , Peng Wang D and Xiefeng Ye A F
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A College of Tobacco Science, Henan Agricultural University/National Tobacco Cultivation and Physiology and Biochemistry Research Centre/Key Laboratory for Tobacco Cultivation of Tobacco Industry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China.

B Staff Development Institution of China National Tobacco Corporation, Zhengzhou 450008, China.

C Baiguishan Wetland Nature Reserve Management Center, Pingdingshan 467000, China.

D China Tobacco Hubei Industrial Company Limited, Wuhan 430000, China.

E These authors contributed equally to this work.

F Corresponding author. Email: yexiefeng@163.com

Soil Research 59(5) 452-462 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR20179
Submitted: 17 June 2020  Accepted: 15 January 2021   Published: 4 March 2021

Abstract

Inputs of organic materials are recommended to increase soil carbon (C) sequestration and crop growth. However, organic amendments may increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To comprehensively evaluate the effect of organic amendments on the net ecosystem C budget (NECB) and net global warming potential (net GWP) in a successive tobacco cultivation system, methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes and main components of the NECB under different treatments were measured in a pot experiment. The experiment with cultivated tobacco plants included five treatments: no fertiliser (NF), NPK, NPK plus wheat straw, NPK plus sesame cake (NPKC) and NPK plus biochar made from tobacco stalks. The results of NECB and estimated SOC changes implied that the tobacco-cultivated ecosystems acted as a C source under the NF, NPK and NPKC treatments, whereas the systems acted as a C sink with the application of straw and biochar. N2O emissions were significantly increased by 53.7% and 96.2% in soils amended with straw and sesame cake respectively. Biochar addition had no effect on N2O emissions. CH4 uptake was not affected by organic amendments. As a result, the application of straw and biochar significantly decreased the net GWP and GHG intensity, but sesame cake amendments had no such significant effects. Therefore, in comparison to the other treatments, the straw and biochar treatments were more effective GHG mitigation practices that increased the yield and NECB in the tobacco cultivation system, and this was especially true for the biochar treatment.

Keywords: biochar, carbon dioxide, global warming potential, greenhouse gas, methane, nitrous oxide, straw, tobacco.


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