Abstract
Nitrogen (N) losses from agricultural fields have been extensively studied. In contrast, surface runoff and N losses have rarely been considered for bamboo forests that are widespread in regions such as southern China. The thriving of bamboo industries has led to increasing fertilizer use in bamboo forests. In this study, we evaluated surface runoff and N losses in runoff following different fertilization treatments under field conditions in a bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens) forest in the catchment of Lake Taihu in Jiangsu, China. Under three different fertilization regimes, i.e., control, site-specific nutrient management (SSNM), and farmer's fertilization practice (FFP), the water runoff rate amounted to 356, 361, and 342 m3 ha−1 and accounted for 1.91, 1.98, and 1.85 % of the water input, respectively, from June 2009 to May 2010. The total N losses via surface runoff ranged from 1.2 to 1.8 kg ha−1. Compared with FFP, the SSNM treatment reduced total nitrogen (TN) and dissolved nitrogen (DN) losses by 31 and 34 %, respectively. The results also showed that variations in N losses depended mainly on runoff fluxes, not N concentrations. Runoff samples collected from all treatments throughout the year showed TN concentrations greater than 0.35 mg L−1, with the mean TN concentration in the runoff from the FFP treatment reaching 8.97 mg L−1. The loss of NO3 −–N was greater than the loss of NH4 +–N. The total loss of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) reached 23–41 % of the corresponding DN. Therefore, DON is likely the main N species in runoff from bamboo forests and should be emphasized in the assessment and management of N losses in bamboo forest.
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Acknowledgments
This research was financially supported by the National Basic Research Program (973 Program) of China (2013CB127403), the National Project of Scientific and Technical Supporting Programs Funded by Ministry of Science & Technology of China (2012BAC17B02), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (nos. 30971859 and 31272237), the Science & Research Program of Zhejiang Province (no. 2010C32102), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities and the National Key Science and Technology Project: Water Pollution Control and Treatment (2008ZX07101-006-6), and the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI). The authors thank X.N. Xu and M.C. Yu for their assistance in the field and laboratory.
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Responsible editor: Hailong Wang
Qichun Zhang and Imran Haider Shamsi both contributed equally to this work and paper.
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The dissolved organic nitrogen is an important component of overall runoff nitrogen fluxes in bamboo forests and variations in nitrogen losses depend mainly on runoff fluxes, not the nitrogen concentrations.
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Zhang, Q., Shamsi, I.H., Wang, J. et al. Surface runoff and nitrogen (N) loss in a bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens) forest under different fertilization regimes. Environ Sci Pollut Res 20, 4681–4688 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-012-1429-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-012-1429-4