Long-term partial organic fertilizers substitution increased soil
nitrogen availability by mediating nitrogen mineralization and soil
environment in the rubber plantation
Abstract
Understanding the impact of long-term partial substitution of chemical
nitrogen fertilizer with organic fertilizers (partial organic
fertilizers substitution) on soil nitrogen components, mineralization,
and availability is necessary to foresee nitrogen (N) dynamics. The
present study was conducted a long-term field experiment to investigate
the effect of 12 years of fertilizer application on soil nutrient
concentrations, enzymatic activities, and N mineralization in a rubber
plantation. Treatments included: unfertilized as control (CK), 100%
recommended dose of chemical fertilizer (CF), and integrated application
of 50% chemical and 50% organic fertilizer (cow manure) (CF+M). The
soil physicochemical properties, including total nitrogen (TN) and six
labile N components (microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), particulate
organic nitrogen (PON), dissolved organic nitrogen (DON), light fraction
organic nitrogen (LFON)), ammonium nitrogen (NH 4
+-N), and nitrate nitrogen (NO 3
--N); five soil enzymes (urease (UE), leucine
aminopeptidase (LAP), N-acetyl-glucosaminidase (NAG), Acid phosphatase
activity (AcP), and β-1,4-Glucosidase (BG)), and soil organic
nitrogen mineralization were determined. Compared with CF, CF+M
treatment significantly increased soil pH, TN, MBN, LFON, DON, PON, NH
4 +-N, NO 3
--N, organic carbon (SOC), total phosphorus (TP),
available phosphorus (AP), and available potassium (AK) concentrations,
while significantly decreased the soil bulk density (BD) and the
proportion of soil silt and clay particles. In 0-20 cm soil layer, CF+M
treatment significantly decreased the activities of BG but increased
AcP. Meanwhile, CF+M treatment significantly increased the NAG and LAP
activities in the topsoil layer and UE activities in the subsoil layer.
CF+M treatment had high cumulative mineral N production (N
t) and N mineralization potential (N 0)
but were low net soil N ammonification rates (Net N AM),
net soil N nitrification rates (Net N NM), and net soil
N mineralization rates (Net N Min) than CF. The
piecewiseSEM analysis showed that 99% of the variation in N
t and 97% of N Min were explained, with
TN and it’s labile components and soil physicochemical properties being
the most important direct influencing factor for N t and
Net N Min, respectively. Conclusively, partial organic
fertilizers substitution could facilitate N availability and soil N
supply capacity by affecting soil organic N mineralization and improving
soil environmental condition of the rubber plantation. These results
suggest that the combine application of chemical fertilizer and manure
is a useful management practice and provide theoretical guidance and
scientific basis for rational fertilization of rubber plantations in the
tropics.