Globally, an estimated 25% of the CO2 and 90% of the N2O is believed to come from agroecosystems. The objective of this study was to investigate the dynamics of the below-ground CO 2 and N2O concentrations and efflux in corn and soybean systems. In our field study, changes in the below-ground concentrations of CO 2 and N2O were closely related to seasonal changes in soil moisture, with the first two months of the growing season being particularly critical to the production of these gases. Tillage significantly increased CO2 content in the soil profile, however, this effect was greater in the soybean plots than in the corn plots. In our greenhouse studies, an average of about 79% of the soil respiration in corn came from rhizosphere respiration, compared to an estimated 58% in the case of soybean. Specific rhizosphere respiration was significantly higher in soybean (0.29 mg C g -1 root h-1) than corn (0.09 mg C g-1 root h-1), which supports previous observations made with regards to slower-growing plants (e.g. soybean) having relatively higher root respiration than faster growing plants. We observed a nonsignificant difference between N2O efflux in the soybean-planted soil and unplanted bulk soil, which is in contrast to the perception that legumes could stimulate more N 2O production from the soil by increasing the N pool through N 2 fixation. While corn had the greatest uptake of fertilizer N, N 2O efflux in corn pots was higher (2.84 mug N pot-1 h-1) than the soybean pots (0.06 mug N pot-1 h-1). In the laboratory setting, denitrification in the microaggregates proceeded at about 4.4 to 39.6 times higher rate than in large macroaggregates, small macroaggregates or the bulk soil, and showed the greatest response to high moisture levels (80% WFPS).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.102726 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Sey, Benjamin Kweku. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Natural Resource Sciences.) |
| Rights | © Benjamin Kweku Sey, 2006 |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002573080, proquestno: AAINR27838, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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