Arid Zone Research ›› 2022, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (4): 1312-1321.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2022.04.31

• Agricultural Ecology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effects of water treatment on stoichiometric ratio and homeostasis of silage corn soil in Hexi

XIE Mingjun1(),LI Guang1(),MA Weiwei1,LIU Shuainan1,CHANG Haigang1,DU Jia’nan1,DING Ning2   

  1. 1. College of Forestry, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, Gansu, China
    2. College of Finance and Economics, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, Gansu, China
  • Received:2021-12-27 Revised:2022-02-10 Online:2022-07-15 Published:2022-09-26
  • Contact: Guang LI E-mail:1793184186@qq.com;lig@gsau.edu.cn

Abstract:

A study was conducted using irrigation treatments and changes in soil and plant carbon (OC), nitrogen (TN), and phosphorus (TP) stoichiometry and homeostasis were investigated to explore the soil nutrient limitation in farmland ecosystems in the Hexi irrigation area. The following results are presented. (1) The OC, TN, and TP concentrations of silage maize soils under different irrigation treatments reached the highest values in 0-10 cm. (2) Among four irrigation treatments, the nutrient content of plant organs was the highest under W0 irrigation. However, at 0-30 cm soil layers, the values of soil OC, TN, and TP concentrations were the highest under W1 irrigation treatment (i.e., traditional irrigation), soil TN and TP contents were more than those under other irrigation treatments (6.66%-26.17% and 4.67%-19.21%, respectively), and the decrease in soil and plant nutrients was more significant than that in irrigation water amount. (3) The ranges of C:N, C:P, and N:P ratios in soil and plants were at 3.60-61.2, 4.39-53.9, and 1.01-1.24, respectively. Soil C:N ratios were relatively stable among three soil layers and different irrigation treatments. The N:P ratios of leaves (11.9) and roots (7.58) were less than the threshold of plant N limitation (14), indicating that plant growth was limited by N. (4) Among four irrigation treatments, corn OC and TP and their ratios remained stable. However, the leaf N:P homeostasis was more sensitive to W2 treatment (20% water-saving irrigation) than to W0 treatment. Thus, 10% water-saving treatment in the Hexi irrigation area might be beneficial to the retention of soil nutrients in silage corn and maintains the stable adaptability of crop growth, realizing the purpose of water-saving and alleviating the current water scarcity situation.

Key words: silage maize, irrigation water, soil nutrient, stoichiometric ratio, homeostasis, Hexi