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Volume 15
Issue 19
10.3390/agriculture15192098
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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

Stratified Nitrogen Application Enhances Subsoil Carbon Sequestration via Enzyme-Mediated Pathways in Straw-Incorporated Croplands of North China Plain

by
Bin Wang
1,2,3,
Yanqun Wang
1,
Jingyu Li
2,3,
Rui Hou
2,3,
Yulong Liu
2,3,
Xin Fu
2,4,*,
Jie Men
2,4,
Yingchun Li
5 and
Zhengping Peng
1,2,3,*
1
State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement and Regulation, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071000, China
2
Key Laboratory of Farmland Ecological Environment of Hebei Province, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071000, China
3
College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071000, China
4
College of Land and Resources, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071000, China
5
Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Agriculture 2025, 15(19), 2098; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15192098
Submission received: 8 September 2025 / Revised: 30 September 2025 / Accepted: 1 October 2025 / Published: 9 October 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Agricultural Soils)
Versions Notes

Abstract

Nitrogen (N) fertilization critically regulates the storage and availability of soil carbon (C) and N pools. However, the internal mechanism through which stratified N application affects soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration and soil quality index (SQI) remains unclear. To investigate the effects of stratified N application on C sequestration and SQI in both topsoil and subsoil, this study established six treatments (N0:0, N1:0, N4:1, N3:2, N2:3, N1:4) and analyzed soil biochemical indicators. The results showed that compared to N1:0, stratified N fertilization did not significantly improve soil C and N content in the 0–20 cm layer. In contrast, the N2:3 and N1:4 treatments even led to a significant reduction in soil C and N pools in the topsoil. In the 20–40 cm, compared to N1:0, stratified N fertilization increased SOC, TN, labile C fractions, N fractions (particulate organic N and microbial biomass N), enzyme activity and C pool management index (CPMI), increasing by 0.52–7.94%, 2.05–8.42%, 4.77–42.59%, 14.46–56.01%, 6.34–45.82%, and 31.26–51.93%, respectively. In 0–20 cm, compared to N0:0, N application increased SQI by 24.84–45.77%, and N2:3 and N1:4 treatments were lower SQI than N1:0. Furthermore, N2:3, N3:2, and N1:4 treatments in 20–40 cm were higher than other treatments. N fertilizer application drives the synergistic changes in C and N fractions by regulating enzyme activity and stoichiometric ratio, thus affecting CPMI and SQI. Thus, the 3:2 stratified N fertilization (0–20 cm:20–40 cm) method achieves synergistic dual-layer enhancement-maintaining surface C and N pools while boosting subsoil C sequestration and quality-through enzyme-mediated precision regulation of C/N stoichiometry. The study provides a scientific foundation for integrated C emission reduction and cropland quality enhancement in the North China.
Keywords: stratified fertilization; C and N fractions; enzyme activity; soil quality index; north China plain stratified fertilization; C and N fractions; enzyme activity; soil quality index; north China plain

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MDPI and ACS Style

Wang, B.; Wang, Y.; Li, J.; Hou, R.; Liu, Y.; Fu, X.; Men, J.; Li, Y.; Peng, Z. Stratified Nitrogen Application Enhances Subsoil Carbon Sequestration via Enzyme-Mediated Pathways in Straw-Incorporated Croplands of North China Plain. Agriculture 2025, 15, 2098. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15192098

AMA Style

Wang B, Wang Y, Li J, Hou R, Liu Y, Fu X, Men J, Li Y, Peng Z. Stratified Nitrogen Application Enhances Subsoil Carbon Sequestration via Enzyme-Mediated Pathways in Straw-Incorporated Croplands of North China Plain. Agriculture. 2025; 15(19):2098. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15192098

Chicago/Turabian Style

Wang, Bin, Yanqun Wang, Jingyu Li, Rui Hou, Yulong Liu, Xin Fu, Jie Men, Yingchun Li, and Zhengping Peng. 2025. "Stratified Nitrogen Application Enhances Subsoil Carbon Sequestration via Enzyme-Mediated Pathways in Straw-Incorporated Croplands of North China Plain" Agriculture 15, no. 19: 2098. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15192098

APA Style

Wang, B., Wang, Y., Li, J., Hou, R., Liu, Y., Fu, X., Men, J., Li, Y., & Peng, Z. (2025). Stratified Nitrogen Application Enhances Subsoil Carbon Sequestration via Enzyme-Mediated Pathways in Straw-Incorporated Croplands of North China Plain. Agriculture, 15(19), 2098. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15192098

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