Hostname: page-component-5c6d5d7d68-ckgrl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-08-25T14:55:36.010Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Influence of elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide and supplementary irrigation on greenhouse gas emissions from a spring wheat crop in southern Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2012

S. K. LAM ,
D. CHEN ,
R. NORTON ,
R. ARMSTRONG  and
A. R. MOSIER
S. K. LAM
Affiliation:
Melbourne School of Land and Environment, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
D. CHEN*
Affiliation:
Melbourne School of Land and Environment, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
R. NORTON
Affiliation:
Melbourne School of Land and Environment, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia International Plant Nutrition Institute, 54 Florence Street, Horsham, Victoria 3400, Australia
R. ARMSTRONG
Affiliation:
Department of Primary Industries, Private Bag 260, Horsham, Victoria 3401, Australia
A. R. MOSIER
Affiliation:
Melbourne School of Land and Environment, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
*
*To whom all correspondence should be addressed. Email: delichen@unimelb.edu.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The effect of elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration on greenhouse gas (GHG) emission from semi-arid cropping systems is poorly understood. Closed static chambers were used to measure the fluxes of nitrous oxide (N2O), CO2 and methane (CH4) from a spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Yitpi) crop-soil system at the Australian grains free-air carbon dioxide enrichment (AGFACE) facility at Horsham in southern Australia in 2009. The targeted atmospheric CO2 concentrations (hereafter CO2 concentration is abbreviated as [CO2]) were 390 (ambient) and 550 (elevated) μmol/mol for both rainfed and supplementary irrigated treatments. Gas measurements were conducted at five key growth stages of wheat. Elevated [CO2] increased the emission of N2O and CO2 by 108 and 29%, respectively, with changes being greater during the wheat vegetative stage. Supplementary irrigation reduced N2O emission by 36%, suggesting that N2O was reduced to N2 in the denitrification process. Irrigation increased CO2 flux by 26% at ambient [CO2] but not at elevated [CO2], and had no impact on CH4 flux. The present results suggest that under future atmospheric [CO2], agricultural GHG emissions at the vegetative stage may be higher and irrigation is likely to reduce the emissions from semi-arid cropping systems.

Type
Climate Change and Agriculture Research Paper
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 151 , Issue 2 , April 2013 , pp. 201 - 208
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Arnone, J. A. III & Bohlen, P. J. (1998). Stimulated N2O flux from intact grassland monoliths after two growing seasons under elevated atmospheric CO2. Oecologia 116, 331–335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Asseng, S., Ritchie, J. T., Smucker, A. J. M. & Robertson, M. J. (1998). Root growth and water uptake during water deficit and recovering in wheat. Plant and Soil 201, 265–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baggs, E. M. & Blum, H. (2004). CH4 oxidation and emissions of CH4 and N2O from Lolium perenne swards under elevated atmospheric CO2. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 36, 713–723.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bateman, E. J. & Baggs, E. M. (2005). Contributions of nitrification and denitrification to N2O emissions from soils at different water-filled pore space. Biology and Fertility of Soils 41, 379–388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calderón, F. J. & Jackson, L. E. (2002). Rototillage, disking, and subsequent irrigation: Effects on soil nitrogen dynamics, microbial biomass, and carbon dioxide efflux. Journal of Environmental Quality 31, 752–758.Google ScholarPubMed
Cheng, W. & Johnson, D. W. (1998). Elevated CO2, rhizosphere processes, and soil organic matter decomposition. Plant and Soil 202, 167–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ciarlo, E., Conti, M., Bartoloni, N. & Rubio, G. (2008). Soil N2O emissions and N2O/(N2O+N2) ratio as affected by different fertilization practices and soil moisture. Biology and Fertility of Soils 44, 991–995.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (Australia) (2010). National Greenhouse Gas Inventory: Accounting for the Kyoto Target May 2010. Canberra, Australia: DCCEE.Google Scholar
Eitzinger, J., Orlandini, S., Stefanski, R. & Naylor, R. E. L. (2010). Climate change and agriculture: introductory editorial. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 148, 499–500.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gorissen, A. (1996). Elevated CO2 evokes quantitative and qualitative changes in carbon dynamics in a plant/soil system: mechanisms and implications. Plant and Soil 187, 289–298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Houghton, J. T., Ding, Y., Griggs, D. J., Noguer, M., Van Der Linden, P. J., Dai, X., Maskell, K. & Johnson, C. A. (2001). Climate Change 2001: the Scientific Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ineson, P., Coward, P. A. & Hartwig, U. A. (1998). Soil gas fluxes of N2O, CH4 and CO2 beneath Lolium perenne under elevated CO2: the Swiss free air carbon dioxide enrichment experiment. Plant and Soil 198, 89–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Isbell, R. F. (1996). The Australian Soil Classification. Australian Soil and Land Survey Handbook. Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing.Google Scholar
Janus, L. R., Angeloni, N. L., McCormack, J., Rier, S. T., Tuchman, N. C. & Kelly, J. J. (2005). Elevated atmospheric CO2 alters soil microbial communities associated with trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) roots. Microbial Ecology 50, 102–109.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Karrou, M. & Maranville, J. W. (1994). Response of wheat cultivars to different soil nitrogen and moisture regimes: I. Dry matter partitioning and root growth. Journal of Plant Nutrition 17, 729–744.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keeney, D. R. & Nelson, D. W. (1982). Nitrogen-inorganic forms. In Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 2. Chemical and Microbiological Properties (2nd edition), Agronomy 9 (Eds Page, A. L., Miller, R. H. & Keeney, D. R.), pp. 643–698. Madison, WI, USA: American Society of Agronomy.Google Scholar
Kessavalou, A., Doran, J. W., Mosier, A. R. & Drijber, R. A. (1998). Greenhouse gas fluxes following tillage and wetting in a wheat-fallow cropping system. Journal of Environmental Quality 27, 1105–1116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kettunen, R., Saarnio, S., Martikainen, P. & Silvola, J. (2005). Elevated CO2 concentration and nitrogen fertilisation effects on N2O and CH4 fluxes and biomass production of Phleum pratense on farmed peat soil. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 37, 739–750.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kettunen, R., Saarnio, S., Martikainen, P. J. & Silvola, J. (2007). Can a mixed stand of N2-fixing and non-fixing plants restrict N2O emissions with increasing CO2 concentration? Soil Biology and Biochemistry 39, 2538–2546.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khalil, M. I. & Baggs, E. M. (2005). CH4 oxidation and N2O emissions at varied soil water-filled pore spaces and headspace CH4 concentrations. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 37, 1785–1794.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kou, T., Zhu, J., Xie, Z., Hasegawa, T. & Heiduk, K. (2007). Effect of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration on soil and root respiration in winter wheat by using a respiration partitioning chamber. Plant and Soil 299, 237–249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lam, S. K., Lin, E., Norton, R. & Chen, D. (2011). The effect of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration on emissions of nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide and methane from a wheat field in a semi-arid environment in northern China. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 43, 458–461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leakey, A. D. B., Ainsworth, E. A., Bernacchi, C. J., Rogers, A., Long, S. P. & Ort, D. R. (2009). Elevated CO2 effects on plant carbon, nitrogen, and water relations: six important lessons from FACE. Journal of Experimental Botany 60, 2859–2876.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maraseni, T. N., Cockfield, G. & Maroulis, J. (2010). An assessment of greenhouse gas emissions: implications for the Australian cotton industry. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 148, 501–510.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mathieu, O., Lévêque, J., Hénault, C., Milloux, M.-J., Bizouard, F. & Andreux, F. (2006). Emissions and spatial variability of N2O, N2 and nitrous oxide mole fraction at the field scale, revealed with 15N isotopic techniques. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 38, 941–951.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mollah, M., Norton, R. & Huzzey, J. (2009). Australian grains free-air carbon dioxide enrichment (AGFACE) facility: design and performance. Crop and Pasture Science 60, 697–707.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mollah, M., Partington, D. & Fitzgerald, G. (2011). Understand distribution of carbon dioxide to interpret crop growth data: Australian grains free-air carbon dioxide enrichment experiment. Crop and Pasture Science 62, 883–891.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norton, R. M., Lam, S. K., Chen, D., Fitzgerald, G. & Armstrong, R. (2010). N dynamics under elevated carbon dioxide in the Australian FACE experiment. In Food Security from Sustainable Agriculture. Proceedings of 15th Agronomy Conference 2010, 15–18 November 2010, Lincoln, New Zealand (Eds Dove, H. & Culvenor, R. A.). Gosford, NSW, Australia: Australian Society of Agronomy. Available from: http://www.regional.org.au/au/asa/2010/climate-change/co2/7128_nortonrm.htm#TopOfPage (verified 21 June 2012)Google Scholar
Nowak, R. S., Zitzer, S. F., Babcock, D., Smith-Longozo, V., Charlet, T. N., Coleman, J. S., Seemann, J. R. & Smith, S. D. (2004). Elevated atmospheric CO2 does not conserve soil water in the Mojave Desert. Ecology 85, 93–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palta, J. A., Kobata, T., Turner, N. C. & Fillery, I. R. (1994). Remobilization of carbon and nitrogen in wheat as influenced by postanthesis water deficits. Crop Science 34, 118–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Papen, H., Von Berg, R., Hinkel, I., Thoene, B. & Rennenberg, H. (1989). Heterotrophic nitrification by Alcaligenes faecalis: NO2−, NO3−, N2O, and NO production in exponentially growing cultures. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 55, 2068–2072.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pathak, H., Prasad, S., Bhatia, A., Singh, S., Kumar, S., Singh, J. & Jain, M. C. (2003). Methane emission from rice-wheat cropping system in the Indo-Gangetic plain in relation to irrigation, farmyard manure and dicyandiamide application. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 97, 309–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patil, R. H., Laegdsmand, M., Olesen, J. E., & Porter, J. R. (2010). Growth and yield response of winter wheat to soil warming and rainfall patterns. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 148, 553–566.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pendall, E., Leavitt, S. W., Brooks, T., Kimball, B. A., Pinter, P. J. Jr, Wall, G. W., Lamorte, R. L., Wechsung, G., Wechsung, F., Adamsen, F., Matthias, A. D. & Thompson, T. L. (2001). Elevated CO2 stimulates soil respiration in a FACE wheat field. Basic and Applied Ecology 2, 193–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polley, H. W., Morgan, J. A. & Fay, P. A. (2011). Application of a conceptual framework to interpret variability in rangeland responses to atmospheric CO2 enrichment. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 149, 1–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruser, R., Flessa, H., Schilling, R., Steindl, H. & Beese, F. (1998). Soil composition and fertilization effects on nitrous oxide and methane fluxes in potato fields. Soil Science Society of America Journal 62, 1587–1595.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, K. E., Runion, G. B., Prior, S. A., Rogers, H. H. & Torbert, H. A. (2010). Effects of elevated CO2 and agricultural management on flux of greenhouse gases from soil. Soil Science 175, 349–356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Utset, A. & Del Río, B. (2011). Reliability of current Spanish irrigation designs in a changed climate: a case study. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 149, 171–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Gestel, M., Merckx, R. & Vlassak, K. (1993). Microbial biomass responses to soil drying and rewetting: the fate of fast- and slow-growing microorganisms in soils from different climates. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 25, 109–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Groenigen, K. J., De Graaff, M. A., Six, J., Harris, D., Kuikman, P. & Van Kessel, C. (2006). The impact of elevated atmospheric [CO2] on soil C and N dynamics: a meta-analysis. Ecological Studies 187, 373–391.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Groenigen, K. J., Osenberg, C. W. & Hungate, B. A. (2011). Increased soil emissions of potent greenhouse gases under increased atmospheric CO2. Nature 475, 214–216.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wang, B. & Adachi, K. (1999). Methane production in a flooded soil in response to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. Biology and Fertility of Soils 29, 218–220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wechsung, G., Wechsung, F., Wall, G. W., Adamsen, F. J., Kimball, B. A., Garcia, R. L., Pinter, P. J. Jr & Kartschall, T. (1995). Biomass and growth rate of a spring wheat root system grown in free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) and ample soil moisture. Journal of Biogeography 22, 623–634.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weier, K. L., Doran, J. W., Power, J. F. & Walters, D. T. (1993). Denitrification and the dinitrogen/nitrous oxide ratio as affected by soil water, available carbon, and nitrate. Soil Science Society of America Journal 57, 66–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Welzmiller, J. T., Matthias, A. D., White, S. & Thompson, T. L. (2008). Elevated carbon dioxide and irrigation effects on soil nitrogen gas exchange in irrigated sorghum. Soil Science Society of America Journal 72, 393–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, D. X., Wang, G. X., Bai, Y. F. & Liao, J. X. (2004). Effects of elevated CO2 concentration on growth, water use, yield and grain quality of wheat under two soil water levels. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 104, 493–507.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zadoks, J. C., Chang, T. T. & Konzak, C. F. (1974). A decimal code for the growth stages of cereals. Weed Research 14, 415–421.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zak, D. R., Pregitzer, K. S., King, J. S. & Holmes, W. E. (2000). Elevated atmospheric CO2, fine roots and the response of soil microorganisms: a review and hypothesis. New Phytologist 147, 201–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar