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Special Issue "Water and Nitrogen Management in Soil-Crop System II"

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A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant–Soil Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 October 2023 | Viewed by 4139

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Puyu Feng

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Guest Editor

College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
Interests: Agrometeorology; sustainable agriculture; climate change impacts
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Kelin Hu

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Guest Editor

College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
Interests: C and N cycling; soil physical processes; crop modelling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Water and nitrogen (N) fertilizer play important roles in improving crop yield and quality in agricultural production. With the increase in agricultural water consumption and N fertilization, water shortage and environmental pollution caused by N losses have become common problems around the world. Therefore, it is very important for the scientific community to establish how to promote crop productivity meanwhile minimizing potential negative environmental impact. This Special Issue invites original research, technology reports, methods, opinion, perspectives, reviews and mini reviews on the subject of water and N management in soil–crop systems. Topics include, but are not limited to: 1) the effects of different water and N management practices on crop yield, N fates, water and N use efficiencies; 2) optimized irrigation practices, cropping systems, and agronomic strategies for improving water use efficiency and crop productivity; 2) innovative and novel N fertilizer application technologies, such as 4R technology (right source, right rat, right time, right place), and fertigation techniques for field or facility crop growth; 3) modelling water and N processes in soil–crop systems and related decision-making processes; 4)water and N management for addressing climate change impacts.

Dr. Puyu Feng
Prof. Dr. Kelin Hu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

crop yield
cropping system
irrigation scheduling
irrigation method
water use efficiency
nitrogen management
nitrogen accumulation and transport
nitrogen losses
nitrogen use efficiency
modeling
decision making
climate change

Related Special Issue

Water and Nitrogen Management in Soil-Crop System in Plants (19 articles)

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

Open AccessArticle

Water and Nitrogen Coupling on the Regulation of Soil Nutrient–Microbial Biomass Balance and Its Effect on the Yield of Wolfberry (Lycium barbarum L.)

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Plants 2023, 12(15), 2768; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12152768 - 25 Jul 2023

Viewed by 564

Abstract

Due to the problems of relatively fragile stability, the quality of soil in the drip-irrigated agricultural ecosystem has high spatial heterogeneity and experiences significant degradation. We conducted a two-year field plot study (2021–2022) in a typical region of the arid zone with the “wolfberry” crop as the research object, with three irrigation and three nitrogen application levels, and the local conventional management as the control (CK). Soil quality under experimental conditioning was comprehensively evaluated based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), and regression analyses were carried out between the soil quality evaluation results and wolfberry yield. The results showed that short-term water and nitrogen regulation enhanced the soil nutrient content in the root zone of wolfberry to some extent, but it did not significantly affect soil carbon:soil nitrogen (C_soil:N_soil), soil carbon:soil phosphorus (C_soil:P_soil), and soil nitrogen:soil phosphorus (N_soil:P_soil). When the irrigation quota was increased from I₁ to I₂, the soil microbial biomass carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus (C_mic, N_mic, and P_mic) tended to increase with the increase in N application, but the microbial biomass carbon:nitrogen (C_mic:N_mic), microbial biomass carbon:phosphorus (C_mic:P_mic), and microbial biomass nitrogen:phosphorus (N_mic:P_mic) did not change significantly. The comprehensive evaluation of the principal components and TOPSIS showed that the combined soil nutrient–microbial biomass and its ecological stoichiometry characteristics were better under the coupled treatments of I₂, I₃, N₂, and N₃, and the overall soil quality under these treatment conditions was significantly better than that under the CK treatment. Under I₁ irrigation, nitrogen application significantly increased the yield of wolfberry, while under I₂ and I₃ irrigation, the wolfberry yield showed a parabolic trend with the increase in nitrogen application. The highest yield was recorded in the I₂N₂ treatment in the first and second years, with yields of 9967 kg hm⁻² and 10,604 kg hm⁻², respectively. The coefficient of determination (explained quantity) of the soil quality based on soil nutrient–microbial biomass and the characteristics of its ecological stoichiometry for wolfberry yield ranged from 0.295 to 0.573. These findings indicated a limited positive effect of these indicators of soil on wolfberry yield. The short-term water and nitrogen regulation partly influenced the soil and soil microbial biomass in agroecosystems, but the effect on elemental balance was not significant. Our findings might provide theoretical support for managing the health of agricultural ecosystems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water and Nitrogen Management in Soil-Crop System II)

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Figure 1

Open AccessArticle

Planning Spatial Layout of a Typical Salt Tolerant Forage of Sweet Sorghum in the Yellow River Delta via Considering Resource Constraints, Nitrogen Use Efficiency, and Economic Benefits

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Plants 2023, 12(13), 2483; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12132483 - 29 Jun 2023

Viewed by 482

Abstract

In order to effectively address the issue of severe soil salinization in the coastal area of the Yellow River Delta, which has led to a significant number of medium and low-yield fields in this region, and to satisfy the rising demand for feed grain in China in recent years, a highly effective solution is to replace conventional crops by cultivating a specialized type of forage grass that can withstand high salinity levels and is well adapted to the local climate. This study proposed a spatial layout scheme for planting salt-tolerant forages, with the aim of providing a foundation for enhancing saline-alkali land and increasing resource utilization efficiency. The results showed that the climate conditions in the Yellow River Delta were suitable for planting sweet sorghum. With respect to soil salt content, the suitable planting regions for sweet sorghum can be classified into four categories: Suitable, moderately suitable, less suitable, and unsuitable, with soil salt concentrations of 2.62–5.25‰, 5.25–7.88‰, respectively. Concerning economic benefits, sweet sorghum’s input-output ratio (74.4%) surpasses that of cotton in high saline-alkali zones, providing a significant advantage in comparison with traditional crops. In non-saline-alkali and light saline-alkali areas, the traditional winter wheat-summer maize planting system offers higher economic benefits and nitrogen use efficiency, so it is recommended to maintain this system as the dominant agricultural model. In moderately and severe saline-alkali zones, although one-season maize exhibits greater nitrogen efficiency, its economic benefits are lower than those of sweet sorghum. Hence, it is advisable to promote one-season maize in suitable regions and introduce salt-tolerant forage, such as sweet sorghum in other areas. This approach offers novel ideas and methods for crop spatial layout planning and addresses potential feed grain shortages in the region. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water and Nitrogen Management in Soil-Crop System II)

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Figure 1

Open AccessArticle

Diversity Temporal–Spatial Dynamics of Potato Rhizosphere Ciliates and Contribution to Nitrogen- and Carbon-Derived Nutrition in North-East China

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Plants 2023, 12(12), 2260; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12122260 - 09 Jun 2023

Viewed by 530

Abstract

Ciliates are an important component of the rhizosphere microorganism community, but their nutritional contribution to plants has not been fully revealed. In this paper, we investigated the rhizosphere ciliate community of potatoes during six growth stages, illustrated the spatial–temporal dynamics of composition and diversity, and analyzed the correlation between soil physicochemical properties. The contributions of ciliates to the carbon- and nitrogen-derived nutrition of potatoes were calculated. Fifteen species of ciliates were identified, with higher diversity in the top soil, which increased as the potatoes grew, while they were more abundant in the deep soil, and the number decreased as the potatoes grew. The highest number of species of ciliates appeared in July (seedling stage). Among the five core species of ciliates, Colpoda sp. was the dominant species in all six growth stages. Multiple physicochemical properties affected the rhizosphere ciliate community, with ammonium nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N) and the soil water content (SWC) greatly influencing ciliate abundance. The key correlation factors of ciliates diversity were NH₄⁺-N, available phosphorus (AP), and soil organic matter (SOM). The annual average contribution rates of carbon and nitrogen by rhizosphere ciliates to potatoes were 30.57% and 23.31%, respectively, with the highest C/N contribution rates reaching 94.36% and 72.29% in the seedling stage. This study established a method for estimating the contributions of carbon and nitrogen by ciliates to crops and found that ciliates could be potential organic fertilizer organisms. These results might be used to improve water and nitrogen management in potato cultivation and promote ecological agriculture. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water and Nitrogen Management in Soil-Crop System II)

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Open AccessArticle

Effects of the Combining Straw Return with Urease Inhibitor on Ammonia Volatilization, Nitrogen Use Efficiency, and Rice Yield in Purple Soil Areas

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Plants 2023, 12(11), 2071; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12112071 - 23 May 2023

Viewed by 494

Abstract

Straw return in rice (Oryza sativa L.) paddy has been heavily criticized for its potential to influence ammonia (NH₃) volatilization loss due to irrational fertilizer N application. Therefore, improving the N fertilization strategies within residue straw systems is necessary to reduce N loss from NH₃ volatilization. This study investigated how the incorporation of oilseed rape straw and the urease inhibitor affected NH₃ volatilization, fertilizer N use efficiency (FNUE), and rice yields over two growing seasons (2018–2019) in the purple soil region. This study arranged eight treatments combined straw (2, 5, 8 ton ha⁻¹, named 2S, 5S, 8S, respectively), with urea or urease inhibitor (UI, 1% NBPT) with three replicates, which included control (CK), UR (Urea, 150 kg N ha⁻¹), UR + 2S, UR + 5S, UR + 8S, UR + 2S + UI, UR + 5S + UI, UR + 8S + UI, based on the randomized complete block method. Our results indicated that incorporating oilseed rape straw increased NH₃ losses by 3.2–30.4% in 2018 and 4.3–17.6% in 2019 than the UR treatment, attributing to the higher NH₄⁺-N content and pH value within floodwater. However, the UR + 2S + UI, UR + 5S + UI and UR + 8S + UI treatments reduced NH₃ losses by 3.8%, 30.3%, and 8.1% in 2018 and 19.9%, 39.5%, and 35.8% in 2019, separately compared to their corresponding UR plus straw treatments. According to the findings, adding 1% NBPT significantly decreased NH₃ losses while incorporating 5 ton ha⁻¹ oilseed rape straw. Furthermore, adding straw, either alone or in conjunction with 1% NBPT, increased rice yield and FNUE by 0.6–18.8% and 0.6–18.8%, respectively. Otherwise, NH₃ losses scaled by yield in the UR + 5S + UI treatment decreased significantly between all treatments in 2018 and 2019. These results suggest that optimizing the oilseed rape straw rate combined with 1% NBPT applied with urea efficiently increased rice yield and reduced NH₃ emissions in the purple soil region of Sichuan Province, China. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water and Nitrogen Management in Soil-Crop System II)

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Open AccessArticle

Irrigation Optimization via Crop Water Use in Saline Coastal Areas—A Field Data Analysis in China’s Yellow River Delta

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Plants 2023, 12(10), 1990; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12101990 - 15 May 2023

Viewed by 771

Abstract

Freshwater resources are becoming increasingly scarce in coastal areas, limiting crop productivity in coastal farmlands. Although the characteristic of crop water use is an important factor for water conservation in coastal farmlands, it has not been studied extensively. This study aimed to depict the water use process of soil–plant systems under saline stress in coastal ecosystems and optimize water management. An intensive observation experiment was performed within China’s Yellow River Delta to identify the water use processes and crop coefficients (K_C) and also quantify the impacts of salt stress on crop water use. The results show that shallow groundwater did not contribute to soil water in the whole rotation; K_C values for wheat–maize, wheat–sorghum, and wheat–soybean rotation systems were 45.0, 58.4, and 57% less, respectively, than the FAO values. The water use efficiency of the maize (8.70) and sorghum (9.00) in coastal farmlands was higher than that of the soybean (4.37). By identifying the critical periods of water and salt stress, this paper provides suggestions for water-saving and salinity control in coastal farmlands. Our findings can inform the sustainable development of coastal farmlands and provide new insights to cope with aspects of the global food crisis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water and Nitrogen Management in Soil-Crop System II)

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Graphical abstract

Open AccessArticle

Addressing the Relationship between Leaf Nitrogen and Carbon Isotope Discrimination from the Three Levels of Community, Population and Individual

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Plants 2023, 12(7), 1551; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12071551 - 04 Apr 2023

Viewed by 629

Abstract

The carbon, nitrogen and water cycles of terrestrial ecosystems are important biogeochemical cycles. Addressing the relationship of leaf nitrogen (N) and carbon isotope discrimination (Δ) will enhance the understanding of the links between these three cycles in plant leaves because Δ can reflect time-integrated leaf-level water-use efficiency (WUE) over the period when the leaf material is produced. Previous studies have paid considerable attention to the relationship. However, these studies have not effectively eliminated the interference of environmental factors, inter-species, and inter-individual differences in this relationship, so new research is necessary. To minimize these interferences, the present work explored the relationship at the three levels of community, population, and plant individual. Three patterns of positive, negative and no relationship were observed across communities, populations, and individuals, which is dependent on environmental conditions, species, and plant individuals. The results strongly suggested that there is no general pattern for the relationship between leaf N and Δ. Furthermore, the results indicated that there is often no coupling between leaf-level long-term WUE and leaf N in the metabolic process of carbon, N and water in leaves. The main reason for the lack of this relationship is that most plants do not invest large amounts of nitrogen into photosynthesis. In addition, the present study also observed that, for most plant species, leaf N was not related to photosynthetic rate, and that variations in photosynthetic rates are mainly driven by stomatal conductance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water and Nitrogen Management in Soil-Crop System II)

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