Denitrification Rate and Controlling Factors for Accumulated Nitrate in the Deep Subsoil of Intensive Farmlands: A Case Study in the North China Plain

Abstract Denitrification in subsoil (to a depth of 12 m) is an important mechanism to reduce nitrate ( NO 3 − ) leaching into groundwater. However, regulating mechanisms of subsoil denitrification, especially those in the deep subsoil beneath the crop root zone, have not been well documented. In this study, soil columns of 0–12 m depth were collected from intensively farmed fields in the North China Plain. The fields had received long-term nitrogen (N) fertilizer inputs at 0 (N0), 200 (N200) and 600 (N600) kg N ha−1 year−1. Main soil properties related to denitrification, i.e., soil water content, NO 3 − , dissolved organic carbon (DOC), soil organic carbon (SOC), pH, denitrifying enzyme activity (DEA), and anaerobic denitrification rate (ADR), were determined. Statistical comparisons among the treatments were performed. The results showed that NO 3 − was more heavily accumulated in the entire soil profile of the N600 treatment, compared to the N0 and N200 treatments. The SOC, DOC, and ADR decreased with increasing soil depth in all treatments, whereas considerable DEA was observed throughout the subsoil. The long-term fertilizer rates affected ADR only in the upper 4 m soil layers. The ADRs in the N200 and N600 treatments were significantly correlated with DOC. Multiple regression analysis indicated that DOC rather than DEA was the key factor regulating denitrification beneath the root zone. Additional research is required to determine if carbon addition into subsoil can be a promising approach to enhance NO 3 − denitrification in the subsoil and consequently to mitigate groundwater NO 3 − contamination in the intensive farmlands.

• Publication year

  2017

• Venue

  Pedosphere

• Publication date

  2017-08-05

• Fields of study

  Agricultural and Food Sciences, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/S1002-0160(17)60472-7
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Biological denitrification

  2021cited by this paper
• Identifying Major Factors Affecting Groundwater Change in the North China Plain with Grey Relational Analysis

  2014cited by this paper
• Meta-analysis of strategies to control nitrate leaching in irrigated agricultural systems and their effects on crop yield.

  2013cited by this paper
• Concentration profiles of CH4, CO2 and N2O in soils of a wheat–maize rotation ecosystem in North China Plain, measured weekly over a whole year

  2013cited by this paper
• Evaluation of soil structure in the framework of an overall soil quality rating

  2013cited by this paper
• Denitrification in vadose zone material amended with dissolved organic matter from topsoil and subsoil

  2013cited by this paper
• Particle size analysis

  2013cited by this paper
• Alternative cropping systems for sustainable water and nitrogen use in the North China Plain

  2012cited by this paper
• Quantifying the underestimation of soil denitrification potential as determined by the acetylene inhibition method

  2012cited by this paper
• Yield-scaled N2O emissions in a winter wheat - summer corn double-cropping system

  2012cited by this paper
• Wet and dry deposition of atmospheric nitrogen at ten sites in Northern China

  2012cited by this paper
• N2O emission and the N2O/(N2O + N2) product ratio of denitrification as controlled by available carbon substrates and nitrate concentrations

  2012cited by this paper
• Denitrification potential in subsoils: A mechanism to reduce nitrate leaching to groundwater

  2012cited by this paper
• Integrated hydrological modeling of the North China Plain: Options for sustainable groundwater use in the alluvial plain of Mt. Taihang

  2012cited by this paper
• Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in UK soils and the influence of soil, vegetation type and seasonality.

  2012cited by this paper
• Denitrification enzyme activity and potential of subsoils under grazed grasslands assayed by membrane inlet mass spectrometer

  2011cited by this paper
• Changes of Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Storages under Modern Industrialization in a Rural Landscape of North China Plain

  2011cited by this paper
• Denitrifying bioreactors - an approach for reducing nitrate loads to receiving waters.

  2010cited by this paper
• China faces up to groundwater crisis

  2010cited by this paper
• Nutrient Imbalances in Agricultural Development

  2009cited by this paper
• Mitigation of climate change

  2009cited by this paper
• Reducing environmental risk by improving N management in intensive Chinese agricultural systems

  2009cited by this paper
• Nitrous Oxide (N2O): The Dominant Ozone-Depleting Substance Emitted in the 21st Century

  2009cited by this paper
• The Continuing Challenge of Agricultural Nitrogen Loss to the Environment in the Context of Global Change and Advancing Research

  2008cited by this paper
• Denitrification potential and its relation to organic carbon quality in three coastal wetland soils.

  2008cited by this paper
• Selection of organic substrates as potential reactive materials for use in a denitrification permeable reactive barrier (PRB).

  2008cited by this paper
• Increased nitrogen use efficiencies as a key mitigation alternative to reduce nitrate leaching in north china plain

  2007cited by this paper
• Robotized incubation system for monitoring gases (O2, NO, N2O N2) in denitrifying cultures.

  2007cited by this paper
• Denitrification capacity in the vadose zone at three sites in the Lake Taupo catchment, New Zealand

  2007cited by this paper
• Experimental evaluation of methods to quantify dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in soil

  2006cited by this paper
• Nitrogen balance and groundwater nitrate contamination: comparison among three intensive cropping systems on the North China Plain.

  2006cited by this paper
• Laser diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and image analysis to evaluate a bimodal Gaussian model for particle size distribution in soils

  2006cited by this paper
• Nitrate pollution from agriculture in different hydrogeological zones of the regional groundwater flow system in the North China Plain

  2005cited by this paper
• Vertical gradients of δ15N and δ18O in soil atmospheric N2O—temporal dynamics in a sandy soil

  2005cited by this paper
• Denitrification potential in a grassland subsoil: effect of carbon substrates

  2004cited by this paper
• Assessment and management of long-term nitrate pollution of ground water in agriculture-dominated watersheds

  2004cited by this paper
• Fate of nitrogen and carbon in the vadose zone: in situ and laboratory measurements of seasonal variations in aerobic respiratory and denitrifying activities

  2004cited by this paper
• Ammonia Volatilization and Denitrilfication Losses from an Irrigated Maize-Wheat Rotation Field in the North China Plain

  2004cited by this paper
• Nitrogen dynamics and budgets in a winter wheat-maize cropping system in the North China Plain

  2003cited by this paper
• Vadose Zone Processes and Chemical Transport Evaluating Microbial Purification during Soil Treatment of Wastewater with Multicomponent Tracer and Surrogate Tests

  2003cited by this paper
• Dissolved organic matter induced denitrification in subsoils and aquifers

  2003cited by this paper
• Managing soil denitrification

  2002cited by this paper
• Gaseous nitrogen losses from urea applied to maize on a calcareous fluvo-aquic soil in the North China Plain

  2002cited by this paper
• Nitrogen and carbon leaching in agroecosystems and their role in denitrification potential.

  2001cited by this paper
• Five years of nitrate removal, denitrification and carbon dynamics in a denitrification wall.

  2001cited by this paper
• A simple approach to determine reactive solute transport using time domain reflectometry.

  2000cited by this paper
• THE VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SOIL ORGANIC CARBON AND ITS RELATION TO CLIMATE AND VEGETATION

  2000cited by this paper
• Long‐Term Performance of In Situ Reactive Barriers for Nitrate Remediation

  2000cited by this paper
• Denitrification in the subsoil of the Broadbalk Continuous Wheat Experiment

  1999cited by this paper
• Subsoils: chemo-and biological denitrification, N2O and N2 emissions

  1998cited by this paper
• Carbon induced subsoil denitrification of 15N-labelled nitrate in 1 m deep soil columns

  1998cited by this paper
• Denitrification in Soil Profiles beneath Grassland and Cultivated Soils

  1996cited by this paper
• Soil pH and Soil Acidity

  1996cited by this paper
• Nitrate pollution of groundwater in northern China

  1996cited by this paper
• Potential for denitrification at depth below long-term grass swards

  1994cited by this paper
• Denitrification capacity and denitrification potential of subsurface soils

  1992cited by this paper
• Availability of organic carbon for denitrification of nitrate in subsoils

  1992cited by this paper
• Determination of organic carbon in soils and fertilizers

  1989cited by this paper
• Denitrification below the Crop Rooting Zone as Influenced by Surface Tillage

  1989cited by this paper
• Determination of Nitrate in Soil Extracts by Dual-wavelength Ultraviolet Spectrophotometry1

  1985cited by this paper
• Denitrification

  1982cited by this paper
• Phases of denitrification following oxygen depletion in soil

  1979cited by this paper

• A meta-analysis to disentangle the effects of land management on soil denitrification

  2026cites this paper
• Are iron and manganese key factors in nitrate attenuation within the shallow groundwater of the nitrogen attenuation zone?

  2025cites this paper
• Identifying the hotspots of nitrate leaching and its key driving factors in the Yellow River Delta using DNDC model.

  2024cites this paper
• Quantifying recharge mechanisms in low-hilly areas of a loess region: Implications for the quantity and quality of groundwater

  2024cites this paper
• Continuous shallow groundwater decline and accidental extreme precipitation control the soil nitrate leaching of a well-irrigated area in the North China Plain

  2024cites this paper
• Long-term high nitrogen surplus in intensive apple-planting regions results in huge legacy nitrogen in the vadose zone: Potential or real risk to the groundwater?

  2023cites this paper
• Setting goals for agricultural nitrogen emission reduction to ensure safe air and groundwater quality: A case study of Quzhou, the North China Plain.

  2023cites this paper
• Mineralizable nitrogen and denitrification enzyme activity drive nitrate concentrations in well-drained stony subsoil under lucerne (Medicago sativa L.)

  2022cites this paper
• Differential immediate and long-term effects of nitrogen input on denitrification N2O/(N2O+N2) ratio along a 0‒5.2 m soil profile

  2022cites this paper
• Influence of Agricultural Managed Aquifer Recharge (AgMAR) and Stratigraphic Heterogeneities on Nitrate Reduction in the Deep Subsurface

  2021cites this paper
• Total and denitrifying bacterial communities associated with the interception of nitrate leaching by carbon amendment in the subsoil

  2021cites this paper
• Effects of long-term nitrogen fertilization on N2O, N2 and their yield-scaled emissions in a temperate semi-arid agro-ecosystem

  2021cites this paper
• The potential importance of soil denitrification as a major N loss pathway in intensive greenhouse vegetable production systems

  2021influential citation
• Distribution and molecular chemodiversity of dissolved organic nitrogen in the vadose zone-groundwater system of a fluvial plain, northern China: Implications for understanding its loss pathway to groundwater.

  2020cites this paper
• Domestic wastewater infiltration process in desert sandy soil and its irrigation prospect analysis.

  2020cites this paper
• Taxonomic and denitrifying bacteria communities associated with the interception of nitrate leaching by carbon amendment in the subsoil

  2020cites this paper
• Estimating Deep Drainage Using Deep Soil Moisture Data under Young Irrigated Cropland in a Desert‐Oasis Ecotone, Northwest China

  2019cites this paper
• Fertilizer nitrogen loss via N2 emission from calcareous soil following basal urea application of winter wheat

  2019cites this paper
• Water movement and solute transport in deep vadose zone under four irrigated agricultural land-use types in the North China Plain

  2018cites this paper
• Characterising deep vadose zone water movement and solute transport under typical irrigated cropland in the North China Plain

  2017cites this paper