Understanding the Relations between Soil Biochemical Properties and N2O Emissions in a Long-Term Integrated Crop–Livestock System

• Published in: Plants (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 3; p. 365
• Main Authors: de Carvalho, Arminda Moreira, Ramos, Maria Lucrécia Gerosa, Dos Santos, Divina Cléia Resende, de Oliveira, Alexsandra Duarte, de Carvalho Mendes, Ieda, Silva, Stefany Braz, de Sousa, Thais Rodrigues, Dantas, Raíssa de Araujo, Silva, Antonio Marcos Miranda, Marchão, Robélio Leandro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.02.2024
• Subjects: Acid phosphatase; Acids; Agriculture; Arylsulfatase; Biochemistry; Biomass; Carbon; Climate change; Crops; Emissions; Enzymes; Farming; Farming systems; greenhouse gas emissions; Greenhouse gases; Growing season; Livestock; Livestock farming; microbial biomass; Microbiota; Microorganisms; Nitrogen; Nitrous oxide; Organic carbon; Organic matter; Phosphatase; soil enzymes; Soil properties; Soils; Urochloa brizantha
• ISSN: 2223-7747; 2223-7747
• DOI: 10.3390/plants13030365

Edaphoclimatic conditions influence nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from agricultural systems where soil biochemical properties play a key role. This study addressed cumulative N2O emissions and their relations with soil biochemical properties in a long-term experiment (26 years) with integrated crop–livestock farming systems fertilized with two P and K rates. The farming systems consisted of continuous crops fertilized with half of the recommended P and K rates (CCF1), continuous crops at the recommended P and K rates (CCF2), an integrated crop–livestock system with half of the recommended P and K rates (ICLF1), and an integrated crop–livestock at the recommended P and K rates (ICLF2). The ICLF2 may have promoted the greatest entry of carbon into the soil and positively influenced the soil’s biochemical properties. Total carbon (TC) was highest in ICLF2 in both growing seasons. The particulate and mineral-associated fractions in 2016 and 2017, respectively, and the microbial biomass fraction in the two growing seasons were also very high. Acid phosphatase and arylsulfatase in ICLF1 and ICLF2 were highest in 2016. The soil properties correlated with cumulative N2O emissions were TC, total nitrogen (TN), particulate nitrogen (PN), available nitrogen (AN), mineral-associated organic carbon (MAC), and microbial biomass carbon (MBC). The results indicated that ICLF2 induces an accumulation of more stable organic matter (OM) fractions that are unavailable to the microbiota in the short term and result in lower N2O emissions.