1.Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture/Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Rural Eco-Environment of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs,Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences,Beijing 100081,China
2.Institute of Plant Nutrition,Resources and Environmental Sciences/Henan Key Laboratory of Agricultural Resources and Environment,Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences,Zhengzhou 450002,China
To uncover the relationships between soil organic carbon sequestration rate (SCS) and nitrogen loss pathways, a published study on nitrogen leaching for winter wheat (WW) and summer maize (SM) round-year rotation (WM) was chosen as the main data source, which was carried out in Yuanyang County located in the northern part of Henan Province and lasted three years from 2017 to 2020. The experiment had a nitrogen fertilization design of three treatments, namely low N fertilization (LN), medium N fertilization (MN), and zero N fertilization (CK). The following metrics were calculated for the experiment, including carbon footprint (CF), direct N2O emissions (), SCS, and nitrogen leaching scaled on grain yield (NLSGY). Combined with the literature survey data gathered from databases such as China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) during 2019 and 2024, the modulation effects of SCS on and nitrogen leaching (NL) were determined with meta-analysis method. The results show that: 1) The net carbon footprint (nCF,In terms of CO2) of WW and SM for LN, MN,and CK treatments were 0.42, 0.57, 0.24 and 0.56, 0.70, 0.20 kg/kg, respectively; NLSGY of the round-year WM for LN,MN, CK treatments were 0.75,1.70, 0.34 kg/t, respectively. 2) By comparing the three treatments of the experiment, although LN treatment yielded a somewhat lower grain yield (GY) of wheat and maize, it showed a balanced performance regarding other metrics such as CF, NLSGY, and N partial productivity, and was thus viewed as a better treatment. The corresponding N fertilization of 285 kg/hm2 for the whole year rotation was recommended as the optimum value in the region. 3) Based on the meta-analysis results, a positive extremely significant correlation relationship was found between and SCS(P<0.01) in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions) and some European countries, while a parabolic correlation relationship was found between NL and SCS (P<0.05) with a trend of decline at first and a subsequent increase thereafter. Combined with the processes of nitrification and denitrification and the effects of N mineralization and immobilization, the accumulation of soil organic carbon (SOC) was revealed as the key factor to modulate N losses in farmland. Thus, maintaining proper SCS helps to control N losses in farmland and sustain GY. Finally, suitable management practices are recommended, including water-saving irrigation, secondary and trace element fertilizer application, inorganic combined with organic fertilization, and adoption of a diversified cropping system with legume green manure. By adopting these measures, the problem of grain yield decline along with the N fertilizer reduction in the studied region would be solved, while promoting N use efficiency, enhancing SOC storage and achieving green and low-carbon development in agriculture.
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