Effect of long-term fertilization on C mineralization and production of CH4 and CO2 under anaerobic incubation from bulk samples and particle size fractions of a typical paddy soil

Impacts of nutrient management on C mineralization and greenhouse gas (GHGs) emission from soils have been of much concern in global change. Using laboratory incubation, the production of CH₄ and CO₂ were studied from both bulk samples and the particle size fractions (PSF) of topsoil from a paddy under a long-term different fertilization trial (including non (NF), chemical without (CF) and with manure (CFM) fertilization, respectively) in the Tai Lake Region, China. Four PSFs (2000–200, 200–20, 20–2, <2 μm) were separated from undisturbed samples collected after rice harvest by a low-energy ultrasonic dispersion procedure. Both the bulk samples and PSFs were incubated under submerged condition for 72 days. The concentration of CH₄ and CO₂ evolved during incubation were determined by gas chromatography. C mineralization rates ranged from 0.13 to 0.52 mg C g⁻¹ C day⁻¹, with different fertilizations and size of the PSFs, and were not correlated with C/N ratio. While CO₂ production predominated over CH₄ from C mineralization from both bulk samples and the size fractions, CH₄ production played a predominant role in the total global warming potential (GWP) under all treatments. C mineralization of bulk soil was significantly higher under CF than under CFM and NF. CH₄ production, however, was 3 times as under CFM and 27 times as under NF, indicating a tremendous effect of chemical fertilization alone on the total GWP. CO₂ production from the PSFs differed from CH₄ under a single treatment, which was notably from the coarse PSFs larger than 200 μm. Higher C mineralization and CH₄ production with a higher metabolic quotient under CF implicated a vulnerability of soil functioning of GHGs mitigation in the paddy receiving chemical fertilizers only. Thus, rational organic amendments should be undertaken for mitigating the climate change.