title: Relative contribution of maize and external manure amendment to soil carbon sequestration in a long-term intensive maize cropping system.
abstract: We aimed to quantify the relative contributions of plant residue and organic manure to soil carbon sequestration. Using a 27-year-long inorganic fertilizer and manure amendment experiment in a maize (Zea mays L.) double-cropping system, we quantified changes in harvestable maize biomass and soil organic carbon stocks (0-20 cm depth) between 1986-2012. By employing natural (13)C tracing techniques, we derived the proportional contributions of below-ground crop biomass return (maize-derived carbon) and external manure amendment (manure-derived carbon) to the total soil organic carbon stock. The average retention of maize-derived carbon plus manure-derived carbon during the early period of the trial (up to 11 years) was relatively high (10%) compared to the later period (22 to 27 years, 5.1-6.3%). About 11% of maize-derived carbon was converted to soil organic carbon, which was double the retention of manure-derived carbon (4.4-5.1%). This result emphasized that organic amendments were necessary to a win-win strategy for both SOC sequestration and maize production.
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Crop Nutrition and Fertilization, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Wenju
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: National Engineering and Technology Research Center for Red Soil Improvement, Jiangxi Institute of Red Soil, Jinxian 331717, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Kailou
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Crop Nutrition and Fertilization, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jinzhou
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Crop Nutrition and Fertilization, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xingfang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Crop Nutrition and Fertilization, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Minggang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Crop Nutrition and Fertilization, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jianwei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20740, USA.
authors.forename: Xiujun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Soil Biology and Molecular Ecology Group, School of Earth and Environment, Institute of Agriculture, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
authors.forename: Daniel V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Murphy
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D018533:Biomass; D057965:Carbon Sequestration; D018556:Crops, Agricultural; D005308:Fertilizers; D008372:Manure; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D003313:Zea mays
chemical_list: D005308:Fertilizers; D008372:Manure; D012987:Soil