Biomedical subjects

Xunhua Zheng

Publications and source records attributed to Xunhua Zheng.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2007

Nitrous oxide emissions from an intensively cultivated maize-wheat rotation soil in the North China Plain.

N2O emissions from a maize-wheat rotation field were monitored in the Fengqiu State Key Agro-Ecological Experimental Station (Fengqiu County, Henan Province, China) from June 2004 to June 2005. The experiment included four treatments: a bare (crop-absent) soil treated with 150 kg N ha-1 (WN150) and soils fertilized with 0 (N0), 150 (N150), and 250 (N250) kg N ha-1 and cropped with maize or wheat. The bulk of the N2O emissions occurred in pulses following the application of fertilizer N at soil temperatures of 15 degrees C or more. The application of fertilizer N significantly increased the N2O emission, from 636 g N2O-N ha-1 year-1 in the N0 treatment to 4480 g N2O-N ha-1 year-1 in the N250 treatment. However, this increase primarily occurred during the maize growing season. The emission factor of applied fertilizer N as N2O was 1.05-1.34% and 0.24-0.26% during the 105-day maize and 241-day wheat growing seasons, respectively, and was on average 0.61-0.77%. Increasing the rate of fertilizer application increased the emission factor during the maize growing season. The presence of maize appears to increase N2O emission by 45% versus bare soil during the maize growing season. And, N2O emission during the maize season were significantly related to CO2 production (R=0.43-0.81, n=30, P<0.05). N2O emission was greatly affected by soil moisture during the maize growing season and by soil temperature during the wheat growing season. The maximum rates of nitrification occurred when soil moisture was in the range of 45-60% WFPS, with the optimum value being approximately 50%. However, soil moisture influenced N2O emission only when the soil temperature was at the optimum level. It is suggested that reducing the application rate of basal fertilizer N during the maize growing season could decrease N2O emission.

Agriculture↗

PubMed2006

An inventory of N(2)O emissions from agriculture in China using precipitation-rectified emission factor and background emission.

Fertilized agricultural soils are a major anthropogenic source of atmospheric N(2)O. A credible national inventory of agricultural N(2)O emission would benefit its global strength estimate. We compiled a worldwide database of N(2)O emissions from fertilized fields that were consecutively measured for more than or close to one year. Both nitrogen input (N) and precipitation (P) were found to be largely responsible for temporal and spatial variabilities in annual N(2)O fluxes (N(2)O-N). Thus, we established an empirical model (N(2)O-N=1.49 P+0.0186 P.N), in which both emission factor and background emission for N(2)O were rectified by precipitation. In this model, annual N(2)O emission consists of a background emission of 1.49 P and a fertilizer-induced emission of 0.0186 P.N. We used this model to develop a spatial inventory at the 10x10km scale of direct N(2)O emissions from agriculture in China. N(2)O emissions from rice paddies were separately quantified using a cropping-specific emission factor. Annual fertilizer-induced N(2)O emissions amounted to 198.89GgN(2)O-N in 1997, consisting of 18.50GgN(2)O-N from rice paddies and 180.39GgN(2)O-N from fertilized uplands. Annual background emissions and total emissions of N(2)O from agriculture were estimated to be 92.78GgN(2)O-N and 291.67GgN(2)O-N, respectively. The annual direct N(2)O emission accounted for 0.92% of the applied N with an uncertainty of 29%. The highest N(2)O fluxes occurred in East China as compared with the least fluxes in West China.

Agriculture↗

PubMed2006

[N2O flux in typical wetlands of Sanjiang Plain].

By the method of static chamber-gas chromatography, this paper studied the nitrous oxide flux in three typical wetlands (perennial waterlogged Carex lasiocarpa marsh, seasonal waterlogged Deyeuzia angustifolia wet meadow, and perennially over-wet brushwood wetland) of Sanjiang Plain from 2002 to 2004. The results showed that the nitrous oxide flux in test wetlands presented obvious seasonal and annual variation, suggesting that these three typical wetlands were all the sources of atmosphere nitrous oxide during plant growth season, and the weak sink in winter. The annual average flux in C. lasiocarpa marsh, D. angustifolia and brushwood wetland was 53.928, 21.408 and 657.120 mg x m(-2) x yr(-1), respectively. No diurnal variation of nitrous oxide flux was observed in three typical wetlands, and there was no significant correlation between nitrous oxide flux and temperature.

Air Pollutants↗

PubMed2005

Effects of copper concentration on methane emission from rice soils.

Outdoor pot experiments with various paddy soils representing five soil types were conducted at Nanjing Agricultural University during the 2000 and 2001 rice-growing seasons. Eighteen soils and ten out of the eighteen soils were involved in the 2000 and the 2001 experiment, respectively. Two treatments were designed as mineral fertilization (MF) and mineral fertilizer + wheat straw incorporation (MF + WS) for the 2001 experiment. Seasonal average rate of CH4 emission from different soils ranged from 1.96 to 11.06 mg m(-2) h(-1) in the 2000 experiment, and from 0.89 to 5.92 mg m(-2) h(-1) for the MF treatment in the 2001 experiment, respectively. Incorporation of wheat straw enhanced considerably CH4 emission with an average increment of 7.09 mg m(-2) h(-1). CH4 emissions from the two-year experiment were negatively correlated to soil available and total copper concentration. A further investigation showed that CH4 emission from the MF treatment was positively related to the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the soil (r = 0.904, p < 0.001), and that the DOC was negatively correlated to the concentrations of available copper (r = -0.844, p < 0.01) and total copper (r = -0.833, p < 0.01), respectively. Nevertheless, the incorporation of wheat straw did not enhance the soil DOC, and the relationship between CH4 emission and soil DOC was not statistically significant (r = 0.470, p < 0.20). It was concluded that higher concentration of copper in the soils resulted in lower soil DOC and thus reduced CH4 emission when there was no additional organic matter input. Incorporation of wheat straw did not affect soil DOC and available copper concentration but enhanced CH4 emission.

Carbon↗

PubMed2005

Effects of environmental factors on N2O emission from and CH4 uptake by the typical grasslands in the Inner Mongolia.

The fluxes of N2O emission from and CH4 uptake by the typical semi-arid grasslands in the Inner Mongolia, China were measured in 1998-1999. Three steppes, i.e. the ungrazed Leymus chinensis (LC), the moderately grazed Leymus chinensis (LC) and the ungrazed Stipa grandis (SG), were investigated, at a measurement frequency of once per week in the growing seasons and once per month in the non-growing seasons of the LC steppes. In addition, four diurnal-cycles of the growing seasons of the LC steppes, each in an individual stage of grass growth, were measured. The investigated steppes play a role of source for the atmospheric N2O and sink for the atmospheric CH4, with a N2O emission flux of 0.06-0.21 kg N ha(-1) yr(-1) and a CH4 uptake flux of 1.8-2.3 kg C ha(-1) yr(-1). Soil moisture primarily and positively regulates the spatial and seasonal variability of N2O emission. The usual difference in soil moisture among various semi-arid steppes does not lead to significantly different CH4 uptake intensities. Soil moisture, however, negatively regulates the seasonal variability in CH4 uptake. Soil temperature of the most top layer might be the primary driving factor for CH4 uptake when soil moisture is relatively low. The annual net emission of N2O and CH4 from the ungrazed LC steppe, the moderately grazed LC steppe and the ungrazed SG steppe is at a CO2 equivalent rate of 7.7, 0.8 and -7.5 kg CO2-C ha(-1) yr(-1), respectively, which is at an ignorable level. This implies that the role of the semi-arid grasslands in the atmospheric greenhouse effect in terms of net emission of greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4 and N2O) may exclusively depend upon the net exchange of net ecosystem CO2 exchange.

Atmosphere↗

PubMed2005

[CH4 and N2O emission from a winter-time flooded paddy field in a hilly area of Southwest China].

By the method of static opaque chamber/modified gas chromatography, a one-year field experiment was conducted to measure in situ the CH4 and N2O emission from a winter-time flooded paddy field in a hilly area of Southwest China. Gas samples were taken simultaneously from rice-involved and rice-uninvolved plots. The results showed that during rice growth period, the CH4 emission from the winter-time flooded paddy field was higher than that from other paddy fields, but largely lower than many previous reports for the similar regions in Southwest China. The average flux of CH4 emission from rice-involved plots was 22.76 +/- 2.76 mg CH4 x m(-2) x h(-1) during rice growth period, 9.64 +/- 1.17 mg CH4 x m(-2) x h(-1) per year, and 1.43 +/- 0.20 mg CH4 x m(-2) x h(-1) during non-rice growth season; while that from rice-uninvolved plots was only 2.03 +/- 0.18 mg CH4 x m(-2) x h(-1) per year, markedly lower than those from rice-involved plots. During rice growth season, the mean emission rate of CH4 and N2O was 4.53 +/- 0.38 mg CH4 x m(-2) x h(-1) and 32.01 +/- 5.02 microg N2O x m(-2) x h(-1) from rice-uninvolved plots, but reached to 22.76 +/- 2.76 mg CH4 x m(-2) x h(-1) and 73.04 +/- 5.03 microg N2O x m(-2) x h(-1) from rice-involved plots, respectively. Rice involvement resulted in 302% increment of CH4 and 128% increment of N2O emission. There was a clear trade-off between CH4 and N2O emission in paddy fields. Even with a span of 500 years, our calculation showed that in this winter-time flooded paddy field, the GWP contributed by N2O production was 7.9% of the CH4 contribution, and thus, the greenhouse effect of N2O production from this field was very small.

Greenhouse Effect↗

PubMed2005

[N2O emission factor for agricultural soils].

Based on the direct measurements of annual N2O emission from 207 field experiments reported in literatures between 1982 and 2003, this paper established a database of annual N2O emission from agricultural fields. Correlation analysis indicated that the N2O emission from agricultural soils was significantly correlated with climatic factors temperature and precipitation, while no significant correlations were observed between N2O emission and edaphic parameters pH, organic carbon and nitrogen. According to the definition of N2O-N emission factor and its quantification by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the N2O-N emission factor was modified by annual mean temperature and annual precipitation, respectively. The results suggested that the modification with precipitation might significantly reduce the estimated error of N2O emission by about 16%, while that with temperature did not reduce the error, in comparison with the default emission factor by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Crops, Agricultural↗

PubMed2002

The Asian nitrogen cycle case study.

We analyzed nitrogen budgets at national and regional levels on a timeline from 1961-2030 using a model, IAP-N 1.0. The model was designed based upon the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) methods using Asia-specific parameters and a Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) database. In this paper we discuss new reactive-nitrogen and its various fates, and environmental nitrogen enrichment and its driving forces. The anthropogenic reactive nitrogen of Asia dramatically increased from approximately 14.4 Tg N yr-1 in 1961 to approximately 67.7 Tg N yr-1 in 2000 and is likely to be 105.3 Tg N yr-1 by 2030. Most of the anthropogenic reactive-nitrogen has accumulated in the environment. We found that an increasing demand for food and energy supplies and the lack of effective measures to improve the efficiency of fertilizer nitrogen use, as well as effective measures for the prevention of NOx emissions from fossil-fuel combustion, are the principal drivers behind the environmental nitrogen-enrichment problem. This problem may be finally solved by substituting synthetic nitrogen fertilizers with new high-efficiency nitrogen sources, but solutions are dependent on advances in biological technology.

Asia↗

PubMed2002

[Determination of net exchange of CO2 between paddy fields and atmosphere with static poaque-chamber-based measurements].

We firstly introduced the method for determining the net ecosystem exchange fluxes of CO2 (NEE) between croplands and atmosphere, based on field measurements using static opaquechamber/gas chromatography methods was introduced, and the application of this method in the FACE (free-air CO2 enrichment) study to examine the effects of elevated CO2 on the NEE over a typical paddy ecosystem was carried out, because of lacking in observation data for some necessary parameters, e.g., dark maintenance respiration coefficient, only the minimum value of NEE (NEEmin) was calculated based on opaque-chamber measurements. The NEEmin data indicate that CO2 elevated by 200 +/- 40 mumol.mol-1 significantly increased the ecosystem uptake of atmospheric CO2 by a factor ca. 3. To accurately determine the NEE based on opaquechamber measurements, dark maintenance respiration coefficient, above-ground biomass and root: shoot, i.e. R:S, ratio of root to shoot should be observed over the whole growing season.

Air↗

PubMed2002

[Effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on CH4 and N2O emissions from paddy fields].

Effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on CH4 and N2O emissions during the paddy rice-growing season were examined in a FACE (free-air carbon dioxide enrichment) study. The emission fluxes of CH4 and N2O from paddy rice fields were measured using methods based on static opaque-chamber and gas chromatography techniques. Synthetic fertilizer N was amended for the rice-growing season at two rates, 150 and 250 kgN.hm-2 and the atmospheric CO2 was enriched by 200 mumol.mol-1. At both N levels, the preliminary results indicate that no significant effect of CO2 enrichment on CH4 and N2O emissions from the rice paddy fields was detected. The result on CH4 emissions is inconsistent with the most literatures, and the result on N2O emissions is consistent with the most literatures.

Air↗

PubMed2002

[Measurement of CO2 profiles in non-waterlogged soil in a FACE study].

A method was specially designed and applied for measuring CO2 concentration of soil air over the non-waterlogged period of a rice-wheat rotation on an available area of about 1.6 m2 in a FACE (free-air CO2 enrichment) study. Based on measuring the CO2 concentration over the soil profile of 0-30 cm in depth using this method, the CO2 profile in the soils of wheat fields under elevated and ambient CO2 and the bare land under ambient CO2 was investigated and some preliminary results were obtained. Within 0-30 cm in soil depth, CO2 in the pores of the upper soil layers vertically diffused upwards much more quickly than that in the lower soil layers. During the period with active wheat growth, elevated atmospheric CO2 by 200 +/- 40 mumol.mol-1 significantly increased the CO2 concentration in soil air within 0-30 cm in depth by 14% +/- 5% (t-test, P < 0.001).

Air↗

PubMed2002

[Field measurement of NO and NO2 exchanges between cultivated lands and the atmosphere in a FACE study].

A method for measuring NO and NO2 exchanges between cultivated lands and the atmosphere in a FACE (free-air CO2 enrichment) study is described. With this method, gas is sampled with a technique of static-opaque-chamber and the fluxes of NO and NO2 exchanges are determined by analyzing the NO and NO2 concentrations with a chemiluminescent NOx analyzer. Application of this method in the FACE study of a rice-wheat ecosystem has indicated that reliable data on the exchange fluxes could be obtained. Over the non-waterlogged period of a rice-wheat rotation, net emission of NO from the fields was observed, while net uptake of NO2 occurred. The daily net emission of NO did not correlated with the soil temperature, but negatively depended upon soil moisture (R2 = 0.82, P < 0.001). A significant seasonal variation in the net uptake of NO2 was observed, which was regulated by wheat growth status. The daily uptake of NO2 depended upon both soil temperature and soil moisture. The dependence for each could be described with a parabola function (for soil temperature: R2 = 0.74, P < 0.001; for soil moisture: R2 = 0.69, P < 0.001). An elevation of atmospheric CO2 by 200 +/- 40 mumol.mol-1 mitigated the net emission of NO by 19% (t-test P = 0.096) and might be possible to reduce the net uptake of NO2 by 10% (t-test P = 0.26), which was likely due to the stimulated wheat growth.

Air↗

PubMed2002

[Effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on the exchange of trace gases between ecosystems and the atmosphere].

The latest researches on the effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on the exchanges of trace gases (e.g., CO2, CH4 and N2O) between the atmosphere and ecosystems were reviewed. The techniques and methods involved in the researches were introduced firstly. Then the review mainly focused upon the results from those studies using the open-top-chamber (OTC) methods and the free-air carbon dioxide enrichment (FACE) system. Generally, elevated atmospheric CO2 may stimulate biomass accumulation, and enlarge C/N ratio in plant tissue so as to reduce the decomposition of organic matter. This action could increase CO2 sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems. Elevated atmospheric CO2 could impact on methanogenic bacteria and CH4 emissions. An increase in CH4 emissions from wetland may appear. The argument among the responses of N2O emissions to elevated CO2, however, was inconsistent. So far, no study on other trace gases was reported. More efforts should be taken in the research on the effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on the exchange of trace gases.

Atmosphere↗