Alteration of soil-surface electrochemical properties by organic fertilization to reduce dissolved inorganic nitrogen leaching in paddy fields

Soil & Tillage Research

Wang, QiWen, JiongWen, YunjieZhang, YangZhang, NanWang, YananBai, LingyuSu, ShimingZeng, Xibai

Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) adsorbed onto soil colloids plays an important role in soil N leaching, but previous studies have not clearly defined the mechanisms of this process in paddy soils under organic fertilization. In this study, we investigated how ongoing fertilization can change soil DIN leaching via affects on soil surface electrochemical properties and physical properties, and the main influences of soil properties on DIN leaching were characterized. Five fertilization regimes applied during a 5-year field experiment were employed to study this mechanism, i.e., no fertilizer, chemical fertilizer, chemical fertilizer plus hog manure, hog manure, and chemical fertilizer plus oil cake. Increasing levels of applied manure decreased DIN leaching from the soil profile, especially for NH4+, the main form of DIN in the leachate and soil.