Impacts of corn stover management and fertilizer application on soil nutrient availability and enzymatic activity

Abstract

Corn stover is a global resource used in many industrial sectors including bioenergy, fuel, and livestock operations. However, stover removal can negatively impact soil nutrient availability, especially nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), biological activity, and soil health. We evaluated the effects of corn stover management combined with N and P fertilization on soil quality, using soil chemical (nitrate, ammonium and Bray-1 P) and biological parameters (β-glucosidase, alkaline phosphatase, arylsulfatase activities and fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis—FDA). The experiment was performed on a Mollisol (Typic Endoaquoll) in a continuous corn system from 2013 to 2015 in Minnesota, USA. The treatments tested included six N rates (0 to 200 kg N ha−1), five P rates (0 to 100 kg P2O5 ha−1), and two residue management strategies (residue removed or incorporated) totalling 60 treatments. Corn stover management significantly impacted soil mineral-N forms and enzyme activity. In general, plots where residue was incorporated were found to have high NH4+ and enzyme activity compared to plots where residue was removed. In contrast, fields where residue was removed showed higher NO3− than plots where residue was incorporated. Residue management had little effect on soil available P. Soil enzyme activity was affected by both nutrient and residue management. In most cases, activity of the enzymes measured in plots where residue was removed frequently showed a positive response to added N and P. In contrast, soil enzyme responses to applied N and P in plots where residue was incorporated were less evident. Soil available nutrients tended to decrease in plots where residue was removed compared with plots where residue was incorporated. In conclusion, stover removal was found to have significant potential to change soil chemical and biological properties and caution should be taken when significant amounts of stover are removed from continuous corn fields. The residue removal could decrease different enzymes related to C-cycle (β-glucosidase) and soil microbial activity (FDA) over continuous cropping seasons, impairing soil health.

Rational Use of Nitrogen and Valuation of Organic Residues in Integrated Systems, in Comparison To Conventional Agricultural and Livestock Systems

“…This result showed that the application rate used with the mineral fertilizer did not provide su cient amounts of the nutrient to achieve a satisfactory production of grains. According to Galindo et al (2022) the availability of nutrients in soil varies based on how residue is managed and also the amounts of N that are applied.…”

“…The importance of using nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture is due to its fundamental roles in plants growth (Van Raij, 2011; Leghari et al, 2016), in addition to being the most limiting nutrient in crop systems, due to its high exportation in crops (Leghari et al, 2016). However, the non-rational use of nitrogen in agricultural production systems can compromise crops' yield and cause environmental and soil damages (Galindo et al, 2022).…”

No‐till marginally mitigates the impact of harvesting corn stover on soil microbial parameters

“…Removing corn stover reduces inputs of C and nutrients from aboveground plant residues and affects microbial modulators such as soil surface temperature, water content, aeration status, and pH (Battaglia et al, 2020;Blanco-Canqui & Lal, 2009b), which may be critical to maintaining soil MB and activity in near-surface soil, especially under NT. This has been shown in several studies as reductions in POM (Álvaro-Fuentes et al, 2021;Jin et al, 2015;Obrycki et al, 2018;Osborne et al, 2014;Wegner et al, 2018), soil MB (Stewart et al, 2018;Urra et al, 2018), and soil enzyme activities (Galindo et al, 2022;Wegner et al, 2015Wegner et al, , 2018. Only a limited number of studies have linked stover removal alone (i.e., under NT) to changes in soil microbial community composition (Lehman et al, 2014), with most studies showing minimal effects of removal (J.…”

Spatial distribution of soil nutrients and evaluation of cultivated land in Xuwen county

“…The soil organic matter and nutrients are the basis of land productivity, necessary condition of plant growth, and one of the important indicators to measure soil fertility ( Mamuye et al, 2021 ), but little is known about the spatial distribution of soil organic matter and nutrients. Many factors can influence the spatial distribution of SOM and soil nutrients in an orchard, including soil texture, soil depth, fertilizer application, rainfall, plant growth, agricultural management, nutrient and water holding capacity ( Sitienei et al., 2016 ; Yang et al, 2021 ; Liu & Han, 2021 ; Galindo, Strock & Pagliari, 2022 ). The characterization of the spatial distribution of soil nutrients is essential to a better understanding of the relationships between soil properties and environmental factors.…”