Arid Zone Research ›› 2022, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (1): 176-184.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2022.01.18

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Effects of soil mulching on the greenhouse gas emissions of crops farmland in an arid area of Xinjiang

WANG Xuyang1(),LI Dianpeng1,SUN Tao1,SUN Xia1(),JIA Hongtao1,LI Jun2,LI Xinhu2   

  1. 1. College of Grassland and Environmental Science, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, Xinjiang, China
    2. State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang, China
  • Received:2021-07-31 Revised:2021-10-01 Online:2022-01-15 Published:2022-01-24
  • Contact: Xia SUN E-mail:1515375795@qq.com;sunxia1127@163.com

Abstract:

Film mulching is an effective means of improving crop yield on farmland in arid areas; thus, it is widely used in agriculture. Therefore, it is important to explore the effects of film mulching under different crop systems on soil greenhouse gas emissions with the aim of reducing such emissions on farmland. The present study included a plot experiment and in situ observations of greenhouse gas emissions from film mulch-maize soils (MM), film mulch-cotton soils (CM), nonfilm mulch-maize soils (MN) and nonfilm mulch-cotton soils (CN) treated plots. Film mulching significantly increased the soil temperature and water content (P<0.05). The frequency of CH4 emissions from film mulch-treated (MM and CM) soil was greater than that from nonfilm mulch-treated (MN and CN) soil. The highest emission fluxes of CH4 in each system appeared with the MM and CM treatments at 63.47 μg·m-2·h-1 and 16.67 μg·m -2·h-1, respectively. The highest emission fluxes of N2O occurred under the MM (616.70 μg·m-2·h-1) and CN (244.92 μg·m -2·h-1) treatments. The maximum CO2 emission flux in the soil of maize and cotton plots appeared in July (505.93 g·m-2·h-1) and June (848.32 g·m-2·h-1), respectively. Subsequently, all treatments showed a downward trend. The soil water content had significant effects on CH4, N2O, and CO2 emissions under both MM and CM treatments (P<0.05). Soil temperature had a significant effect on the CH4 emissions of MM-treated soil. N2O emissions following treatment with MM and CM were significantly positively correlated with soil temperature. CO2 emissions under each treatment were significantly correlated with soil temperature (P<0.05). Crop species and plastic mulching work together on CO2 emissions. The global warming potential of MM-and MN-treated soils was significantly higher, by around 61.83%-74.63%, than that of CM-and CN-treated soils. Thus, soil greenhouse gas emissions in farmland are affected by the combination of film mulching and crop type. Furthermore, soil greenhouse gas emissions beneath film mulch treatments respond more strongly to hydrothermic factors than the emissions from nonfilm mulch-treated soils.

Key words: arid area farmland, maize, cotton, plastic film mulching, greenhouse gases