Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
Volume 22, Issue 4, Pages 2976-2986Publisher
SPRINGER HEIDELBERG
DOI: 10.1007/s11356-014-3542-z
Keywords
Nitrogen fertilization; Soil pH and EC; Nitrification; Soil acidification; Soil salinization; Lettuce production
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Funding
- National High-tech R&D Program of China (863 Program) [2012AA062603]
- National Basic Research Program of China [2011CB100502]
- Key SQT Innovation Team of Zhejiang Province for Agro-Products Standards and Testing Technology [2010R50028]
- Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China [LY13D010001]
- Fundamental Research Funds for the China Central Universities
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A greenhouse pot experiment was conducted to study the effects of conventional nitrogen fertilization on soil acidity and salinity. Three N rates (urea; N0, 0 kg N ha(-1); N1, 600 kg N ha(-1); and N2, 1,200 kg N ha(-1)) were applied in five soils with different greenhouse cultivation years to evaluate soil acidification and salinization rate induced by nitrogen fertilizer in lettuce production. Both soil acidity and salinity increased significantly as N input increased after one season, with pH decrease ranging from 0.45 to 1.06 units and electrolytic conductivity increase from 0.24 to 0.68 mS cm(-1). An estimated 0.92 mol H+ was produced for 1 mol (NO2 (-) + NO3 (-))-N accumulation in soil. The proton loading from nitrification was 14.3-27.3 and 12.1-58.2 kmol H+ ha(-1) in the center of Shandong Province under N1 and N2 rate, respectively. However, the proton loading from the uptake of excess bases by lettuces was only 0.3-4.5 % of that from nitrification. Moreover, the release of protons induced the direct release of base cations and accelerated soil salinization. The increase of soil acidity and salinity was attributed to the nitrification of excess N fertilizer. Compared to the proton loading by lettuce, nitrification contributed more to soil acidification in greenhouse soils.
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