Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]

Academia.eduAcademia.edu
394 DOI: 10.1002/jpln.201100167 J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci. 2012, 175, 394–400 Soil carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions during the growing season from temperate maize-soybean intercrops Lisa Dyer1, Maren Oelbermann2*, and Laura Echarte3 1 ClimateCHECK, 325 Dalhousie Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 7G2, Canada Department of Environment and Resource Studies, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada 3 EEA INTA Balcarce, Ruta 226 Km. 73,5, C.C. 276 (7620) Balcarce, Argentina 2 Abstract The Argentine Pampa is one of the major global regions for the production of maize (Zea mays L.) and soybean (Glycine max L. [Merr.]), but intense management practices have led to soil degradation and amplified greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. This paper presents preliminary data on the effect of maize-soybean intercrops compared with maize and soybean sole crops on the short-term emission rates of CO2 and N2O and its relationship to soil moisture or temperature over two field seasons. Soil organic carbon (SOC) concentrations were significantly greater (p < 0.05) in the maize sole crop and intercrops, whereas soil bulk density was significantly lower in the intercrops. Soil CO2 emission rates were significantly greater in the maize sole crop but did not differ significantly for N2O emissions. Over two field seasons, both trace gases showed a general trend of greater emission rates in the maize sole crop followed by the soybean sole crop and were lowest in the intercrops. Linear regression between soil GHG (CO2 and N2O) emission rates and soil temperature or volumetric soil moisture were not significant except in the 1:2 intercrop where a significant relationship was observed between N2O emissions and soil temperature in the first field season and between N2O and volumetric soil moisture in the second field season. Our results demonstrated that intercropping in the Argentine Pampa may be a more sustainable agroecosystem land-management practice with respect to GHG emissions. Key words: Argentine Pampa / complex agroecosystems / global warming / legumes / Pearson-product moment correlation / soil moisture and temperature Accepted November 9, 2011 1 Introduction Intensive agroecosystem management practices have reduced levels of soil organic carbon (SOC) and augmented the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG), which have contributed to global warming. Soil CO2 and N2O emissions may be mitigated through improving crop, soil- and fertilizer-management practices (Adviento-Borbe et al., 2007), and by the implementation of sustainable agricultural production systems (Verchot et al., 2008). Intercropping, where more than one crop is grown on the same land unit at the same time, may be a more sustainable agricultural production system compared to conventional or sole-crop systems. Although intercropping is not a new landmanagement concept, especially in tropical regions (Sharma and Behera, 2009), it is currently gaining recognition in temperate areas (Oelbermann and Echarte, 2011). This is because intercropping systems have a smaller environmental impact compared to conventional sole-crop agroecosystems (Li et al., 2001) and may also be more resilient to local climate change due to their greater structural complexity compared to sole-crop agroecosystems. In the Argentine Pampa, intensive production of maize (Zea mays L.) and soybeans (Glycine max L. [Merr.]) has led to soil degradation (Posse et al., 2010); and as a consequence cereal-legume intercrops were adopted to minimize losses of soil organic matter (SOM). Establishing cereal-legume intercrops may reduce losses of C and N because of an overall increase in agroecosystem complexity and the complementary use of resources in time and space (Prasad and Brook, 2005). The inclusion of legumes with a ceral such as maize (Zea mays L.) regulates the internal N cycle via N2 fixation (Schipanski, 2010) and reduces the amount of fertilizer required for crop growth (Inal et al., 2007). To date, most research on intercrop systems has focused on grain yield and grain quality, resource use and competition, nutrient-use efficiency and fertilizer requirements, and weed and erosion control (Prasad and Brook, 2005; Waddington et al., 2007). There is little understanding of the underlying processes involved in the sequestration and stabilization of C and N in temperate intercropping systems, and only a few studies have investigated the effects of cereal-legume inter- * Correspondence: Dr. M. Oelbermann; e-mail: moelbermann@uwaterloo.ca  2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim www.plant-soil.com J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci. 2012, 175, 394–400 crops on GHG emissions (Pappa et al., 2011). A field experiment was carried out to quantify the short-term GHG emission rates from maize-soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) intercrops and maize and soybean sole crops. The objectives of this study were to quantify CO2 and N2O emission rates from two differently configured maize-soybean intercrops compared to maize and soybean sole crops, and to correlate CO2 and N2O emission rates to soil moisture and temperature over two field seasons. We hypothesized that due to a more effective resource-use efficiency, CO2 and N2O emission rates would be lower in the intercrop treatments. This paper presents preliminary results on the initial changes in GHG emissions as a result of intercropping 3 y after this agroecosystem was implemented. It is essential to present preliminary data because it is helpful to draw the first picture on the effect of cereal-legume intercropping on GHG emissions. Such information is crucial as it identifies other agroecosystem management practices effective in the mitigation of GHGs (Rochette and Bertrand, 2008), and also contributes additional information to the already existing global GHG databases (Smith et al., 2007; Verchot et al., 2008). 2 Materials and methods 2.1 Site description The research site was located at the National Institute for Agricultural Technology (INTA) in Balcarce (37°45′ S, 58°18′ W), in the rolling Argentine Pampa. The average annual precipitation was 860 mm, a mean annual temperature of 13.9°C, and the site was located 130 m asl (Andrade, 1995). The soil was classified as a Luvic Phaozem (Mar del Plata series) (Studdert and Echeverría, 2000), with a loam soil texture composed of 41.1% sand, 35.8% silt, and 23.1% clay (Domínguez et al., 2009). The soil pH was 6.2 to a 120 cm depth (Oelbermann and Echarte, 2011). The study was a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four treatments and three replications per treatment. The treatments were maize (Zea mays L.) sole crop, soybean (Glycine max L. [Merr.]) sole crop, 1:2 intercrop, and 2:3 intercrop. The 1:2 intercrop consisted of one row of maize and two rows of soybeans, and the 2:3 intercrop consisted of two rows of maize and three rows of soybeans. Since 2007, all crops were sown on the same plots in consecutive years and each treatment plot size was 8.8 m × 12 m. These intercrop configurations and their plant densities were typical of those currently adopted by landowners in this region. Plant density (plants m–2) was 4.3 (1:2 intercrop), 5.3 (2:3 intercrop), 8.0 (maize only), and 29 (soybean only), with a 0.52 m distance between crop rows. The site was under sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) production prior to the initiation of the intercrop study. Each treatment was mouldboard plowed, and weeds were controlled by N-phosphonomethyl glycine. Crops in each treatment were fertilized with P fertilizer (35 kg P ha–1 y–1), and N fertilizer (granular urea) was applied at a rate of 150 kg N ha–1 y–1 to the maize sole crop and maize only in the intercrops (by hand to the bottom of the maize stems). Fertilizer  2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim Soil greenhouse-gas emissions 395 was applied in November, and soybeans were inoculated with Bradyrhizobium japonicum. Maize was seeded in late October and harvested in April; whereas soybeans were seeded in late November and harvested in May. Only the grain or pod was removed, and all other crop residues remained on site. Average steady-state infiltration rates during the 2009/10 growing season were 11.76 mm min–1 (1:2 intercrop), 11.52 mm min–1 (2:3 intercrop), 9.97 mm min–1 (maize sole crop), and 9.41 mm min–1 (soybean sole crop). 2.2 Soil chemical and physical characteristics Soil was sampled (0–10 cm) in February 2009 (Y1) and in 2010 (Y2) using a soil corer (5 cm inner diameter). Two random samples per treatment replicate were extracted and composited into one sample. A 20 g subsample of the composited soil per treatment replicate was oven-dried at 105°C for 48 h to determine bulk density. The remaining soil was air-dried and sieved (2 mm). Soil carbonates were removed by adding 150 mL HCl (0.5 M) to 2 g of sieved soil. The mixture was stirred 3 times over a 24 h period, and subsequently washed by pipetting the HCl from the settled soil and adding ultrapure water to the soil. This washing procedure was repeated daily for 4 d after which the soil was dried in an oven at 40°C for 2 d (Midwood and Button, 1998). The acid-treated soil was ground in a ball mill (Retsch® ZM1, Haan, Germany) and analyzed for C and N (Costech 4010, Cernusco, Italy). Crop-residue biomass data for this site was obtained from the site manager (data on file) and cropresidue C and N inputs (Tab. 1) were obtained from a previous evaluation of crop-residue C and N concentrations from this site (Vachon and Oelbermann, 2011). Mean values of C and N concentrations of crop-residue biomass in all treatments for maize were 42.2% (C) and 0.66% (N), and 44.8% (C) and 1.4% (N) for soybeans (Vachon and Oelbermann, 2011). A WET-2 sensor (Delta-T Devices, Cambridge, UK) was used to quantify soil moisture (% volume) and temperature (°C) to a 10 cm depth. Measurements of soil moisture and temperature were taken at the same time, and in the same location, as GHGs. Ambient temperature and precipitation data (30 y mean) was obtained from a weather station, operated by the University of Mar del Plata, located adjacent to our study site. 2.3 Greenhouse-gas emission rates Greenhouse-gas chambers were constructed from PVC piping (25 cm height, 10 cm radius) (Parkin et al., 2004; Rochette and Bertrand, 2008). Two sampling chambers per replicate in each treatment (n = 6) were placed randomly in the soil (10 cm depth) between crop rows, and between maize and soybean rows in the intercrops. The chambers were closed with an insulated (6 mm polyolefin foam [Borealis, Port Murray, USA]) and ventilated (10 cm long, 6 mm inner diameter clear PVC tube [Fisher Scientific, Mississauga, Canada]) PVC cap with a sampling port. www.plant-soil.com 396 Dyer, Oelbermann, Echarte J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci. 2012, 175, 394–400 Table 1: Annual aboveground (shoots and leaves) crop-residue biomass, biomass C and N input (g m–2 y–1) from maize and soybeans in a maize and soybean sole crop and in two differently configured intercropping systems in Balcarce, Argentina for the 2008/09 and 2009/10 field seasons (n = 3). Biomass data on file at INTA. Mean values of C and N concentrations of crop-residue biomass in all treatments for maize were 42.2% (C) and 0.66% (N), and 44.8% (C) and 1.4% (N) for soybeans (Vachon and Oelbermann, 2011). Soybean sole crop Maize sole crop Biomass 2008/09 soybean 681 maize 2009/10 total 681 soybean 569 maize Carbon 2008/09 total 596 soybean 305 maize 2009/10 total 305 soybean 355 maize total Nitrogen 2008/09 255 soybean total 2009/10 10 soybean total 8 Gases were measured biweekly (Parkin, pers. com., 2006) from December to February in 2008/09 (Y1) and 2009/10 (Y2). This short-term measurement phase corresponded to the maximum biomass accumulation of crops, where soil was not yet completely covered, and to the beginning of crop senescence at the latter part of the sampling regime. During sampling, the chambers were capped for 30 min and samples were extracted from the headspace with an air-tight 5 mL syringe at time 0 (t = 0), 15 (t = 15), and 30 min (t = 30), and transferred into 3 mL evacuated vials (Labco Ltd., High Wycombe, UK). Gas samples were analyzed on an Agilent 6890N (Santa Clara, California, USA) gas chromatograph, and a gas standard (100 ppm CO2 and 10 ppm N2O) was injected at a 10-sample interval. CO2 and N2O emission rates were quantified according to Hutchinson and Mosier (1981): ([C1 – C0] / [C2 – C1]), (1) where C0, C1, and C2 are the chamber headspace gas concentrations (ppmv) at t = 0, t = 15, and t = 30. If the outcome of Eq. 1 was > 1, linear regression was used to calculate the slope of the concentration vs. time. However, if Eq. 1 yielded  2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim 170 177 2187 1306 1496 1476 1673 355 358 2593 1363 1597 2593 1718 1955 76 79 923 551 631 923 627 710 159 160 1094 575 674 1094 734 834 2 2 14 9 10 14 11 12 5 5 8 maize 2:3 intercrop 2187 10 maize 1:2 intercrop 14 9 11 14 14 16 a value of < 1, then linear regression is not appropriate. Instead the build-up of gas concentration in the chamber headspace is curvelinear with time, and as such the following equation was used (Hutchinson and Mosier, 1981): f0 = V (C1 – C0)2 / (A t1 [2C1 – C2 – C0]) · ln ([C1 – C0] / [C2 – C1]), (2) where f0 was the quantity gas produced (lL m–2 min–1); V is the chamber headspace volume (L); A was the soil surface area (m2); t1 was the time interval between gas-sampling points (min). The value of the slope from the linear regression analysis was substituted for f0 in the ideal gas law equation. Data for atmospheric temperature and pressure used in the ideal gas law equation were obtained from the INTA meteorological station, located adjacent to the study site. Resulting values (lmol m–2 min–1) were converted to lg CO2 m–2 h–1 and lg N2O m–2 h–1. 2.4 Statistical analysis All data were examined for homogeneity of variance and normality and were found to have normal distributions. www.plant-soil.com J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci. 2012, 175, 394–400 Soil greenhouse-gas emissions 397 Differences between treatments for soil characteristics and GHG emission rates were analyzed using the univariate general linear model (ANOVA) in SPSS (SPSS Science Inc., 1989). Significant differences were further analyzed using Turkey’s multiple comparison test (Steel, 1997). A paired t-test was used to compare differences in GHG emission rates between sampling years (Y1 and Y2) within treatments. For each treatment, linear regression analysis was used to determine the relationship between CO2 or N2O emission rates and soil temperature or volumetric soil moisture. For all statistical analyses, the threshold probability level was p < 0.05. 3 Results 3.1 Soil chemical and physical characteristics The two field season means (Y1 and Y2) of soil physical and chemical characteristics were significantly different between treatments (Tab. 2). Soil bulk density was significantly lower in the intercrops; and SOC concentration (g kg–1) was significantly greater in the maize sole crop and intercrops (Tab. 2). Soil temperature and moisture varied within each field season and between the two field seasons. Both soil moisture and temperature followed a similar pattern to that of the ambient temperature and precipitation (Fig. 1). Soil moisture was highest in December of Y1 and in February of Y2 (Fig. 1). This Figure 1: Mean air and soil (0–10 cm) temperature (X [°C]), and ambient precipitation (mm) and soil moisture (䊉 [%vol]) of soybean and maize sole crop and intercrops (n = 6) over two field seasons. A) Y1: December 2008 to February 2009; B) Y2: December 2009 to February 2010 in the Argentine Pampa. Table 2: Soil chemical and physical characteristics (mean of two field seasons) to a 10 cm depth in soybean and maize sole crops, and 1:2 and 2:3 intercrops in the Argentine Pampas, Balcarce, Argentina. Standard errors are given in parentheses (n = 3). Values followed by the same lowercase letter for each soil characteristic and comparing differences between treatments are not statistically different (p < 0.05). Bulk density / g cm–3 SOC / g kg–1 Soybean sole crop Maize sole crop 1:2 intercrop 2:3 intercrop 1.20 (0.1)a 1.20 (0.1)a 1.17 (0.1)b 1.17 (0.1)b (0.1)a (0.1)b (0.2)b 24.41 (0.3)b 23.76 24.58 24.46 TN / g kg–1 2.26 (0.1)a 2.28 (0.1)a 2.27 (0.1)a 2.29 (0.1)a C : N ratio (0.2)a (0.1)a (0.3)a 10.67 (0.2)a 10.68 SOC stock / g m–2 Soil TN stock / g m–2 10.79 10.81 2898 (29.8)a 2999 (22.0)b 2861 (17.1)b 2856 (9.0)b (2.7)a (3.5)a (6.8)b 268 (4.5)b 275  2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim 278 266 www.plant-soil.com J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci. 2012, 175, 394–400 Dyer, Oelbermann, Echarte Soybean Soil CO2 Emission / μg C m-2 h-1 500 Maize 1:2 2:3 A 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 13-Dec-08 27-Dec-08 10-Jan-09 24-Jan-09 36 34 32 30 28 26 24 22 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 7-Feb-09 30 500 Soybean Maize 1:2 2:3 B 450 Soil CO2 Emission / μg C m-2 h-1 Soil N2O Emission / μg N m-2 h-1 550 28 26 400 24 350 22 300 20 250 18 200 16 150 14 100 12 50 10 0 13-Dec-09 27-Dec-09 10-Jan-10 24-Jan-10 study included a dry (Y1) and a wet (Y2) growing season showing variable measurements in ambient air temperature and precipitation, which also reflected a similar variation in soil temperature and soil moisture. Soil moisture was lower in Y1 due to a lower amount of precipitation, which was 171 mm below the 30 y average from December to February. 3.2 Carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emission rates In Y2, the mean CO2 emission rates over the entire sampling period were significantly lower in the intercrcrops ([299 ± 7] lg C m–2 h–1 [1:2 intercrop], [300 ± 13] lg C m–2 h–1 [2:3 intercrop]) compared to the sole crops ([384 ± 7] lg C m–2 h–1 [soybean sole crop], [380 ± 11] lg C m–2 h–1 [maize sole crop]) (Fig. 2). When comparing differences in CO2 emission rates between treatments (mean of both field seasons over the entire sampling period), a lower emission was observed in both intercrop systems. For example, CO2 emission rates were (354 ± 14) and (357 ± 13) lg C m–2 h–1 in the soybean and maize sole crops respectively, whereas that in the intercrops was (284 ± 10) lg C m–2 h–1 (1:2 intercrop) and  2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim 7-Feb-10 8 21-Feb-10 Soil N2O Emission / μg N m-2 h-1 398 Figure 2: Soil CO2 (lg C m–2 h–1) and N2O (lg N m–2 h–1) (lower set of lines) emission rates from soybean and maize sole crop and intercrops (n = 6) over two field seasons. A) Y1: December 2008 to February 2009; B) Y2: December 2009 to February 2010 in the Argentine Pampa. Vertical bars represent standard errors. (290 ± 17) lg C m–2 h–1 (2:3 intercrop). Intraannual variation in CO2 emission rates (December to February) were observed in Y1 and Y2 for all treatments (Fig. 2) but were not significantly correlated to soil temperature (°C) and moisture (% volume). When comparing differences in N2O emission rates between treatments (mean of both field seasons over the entire sampling peirod) lower emissions were observed in the intercrop systems (Fig. 2). For example, N2O emission rates were (13.5 ± 0.8) and (14.0 ± 0.7) lg N m–2 h–1 in the soybean and maize sole crops, respectively, whereas that in the intercrops was (11.5 ± 0.8) and (12.0 ± 0.8) lg N m–2 h–1 in the 1:2 and 2:3 intercrops, respectively. N2O emissions varied over the growing season in Y1 and Y2 and were only significantly correlated to soil temperature (Y1; r 2 = 0.866) and soil moisture (Y2; r 2 = 0.700) in the 1:2 intercrop. 4 Discussion Soil physical and chemical characteristics were similar to those reported by others from the same region of the Argenwww.plant-soil.com J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci. 2012, 175, 394–400 tine Pampa (Studdert and Echeverría, 2000; Aparicio and Costa, 2007; Domínguez et al., 2009). Although measureable differences in the SOC and N (g m–2) stocks were not observed between treatments at this time, and it is expected that within the short term (≥ 5 y), measurable differences in the SOC and N stocks will occur between treatments. For example, Alvarez et al. (1998) reported a measurable difference in the SOC stock after 5 y, whereas Studdert and Echeverría (2000) noted changes after 11 y in this region of the Argentine Pampa. Soil CO2 and N2O emission rates for all treatments fell within the range of values reported in other agroecosystems in the temperate zone (Omonode et al., 2007; Ellert and Janzen, 2008; Pappa et al., 2011). Values of CO2 and N2O emission rates from the sole crops, observed in our study, were similar to those reported by others (Rastogi et al., 2002; Baggs et al., 2006; Posse et al., 2010). Limited data is available on GHG emission rates from temperate cereal-legume intercropping systems, and no data exists for maize-soybean intercropping systems. In Scotland, Pappa et al. (2011) observed that N2O production rates from cereal-legume intercrops were either greater or lower compared to sole crops; noting that the type of legume cultivar and previous crop-rotation regimes influenced emissions. When comparing CO2 emission rates from agroecosystems with an annual maize-soybean rotation, emissions were similar to those of our intercrop systems. Omonode et al. (2007) found a 16% lower CO2 emission in a maize-soybean rotation in Indiana compared to a maize sole crop, and attributed such differences to crop-residue quality. Greater root biomass and rhizodeposition in the maize sole crop in our study, compared to the soybean sole crop, may have also led to a higher CO2 emission rate (Sehy et al., 2008). Soil greenhouse-gas emissions 399 ment and cropping systems may have a greater impact on N2O emissions than the source of mineral N. Additionally, many of the key factors that increase N2O emissions (soil temperature, moisture, pH, osmotic stress, and C and N availability) may be controlled by management practices such as site-specific N-fertilizer application. In our study, sitespecific application of N fertilizers, where only maize and maize in the intercrops received N fertilizer, may be a better management option than sole cropping to help curb N2O emissions. 5 Conclusions Our study is unique because it is the first of its kind to evaluate soil CO2 and N2O emissions from a temperate maize-soybean intercrop system, thus addressing a current gap in the literature. Our results demonstrated that intercropping may be a more sustainable agroecosystem land-management practice with respect to GHG emission. Acknowledgments Funding for this study was provided by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI). This work was supported by the University of Waterloo, the Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), and the Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, the National Research Council of Argentina (CONICET), and a scholarship to L. Dyer from the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture (IICA-Canada). References West and Post (2002) evaluated the relationship between soil CO2 emission rates and crop-residue input. They found that maize sole crops had a greater input of C from crop residues compared to a maize-soybean rotation, and observed a lower CO2 emission rate in the treatment with crop rotation. These results corresponded to those of our study, including those of N2O, showing that the treatment with the greatest crop-residue input (maize sole crop) had the greatest GHG emission rate (Tab. 1). This suggested that there may be an interaction that reduces the amount of CO2 produced from the soil when maize and soybean are grown in rotation or as an intercrop, but no such interaction occurs in either maize or soybean sole crop (West and Post, 2002). Cardoso et al. (2007) suggested there may be a beneficial effect when legumes are intercropped with nonlegumes; where the nonleguminous crop may absorb N that is excreted from the leguminous root system (Hauggaard-Nielsen and Jensen, 2001). Crop-residue biomass N was greatest in the maize sole crop and intercrops, however, N2O emission rates, although not statistically different between treatments, were lower in the intercrops. In our study, the greater N2O emission rates from the maize sole crop compared to the intercrops may be due to differences in the source (Eichner, 1990), the amount (Drury et al., 2008) and availability of N (Jarecki et al., 2008). However, Mosier et al. (1996) suggested that soil manage 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim Adviento-Borbe, M. A. A., Haddix, M. L., Binder, D. L., Walters, D. T., Dobermann, A. (2007): Soil greenhouse gas fluxes and global warming potential in four high-yielding maize systems. Glob. Change Biol. 13, 1972–1988. Alvarez, R., Russo, M. E., Prystupa, P., Schreiner, J. D., Blotta, L. (1998): Soil carbon pools under conventional and no-tillage systems in the Argentine Rolling Pampa. Agron. J. 90, 138–143. Andrade, F. H. (1995): Analysis of growth and yield of maize, sunflower and soybean growth at Balcarce, Argentina. Field Crop Res. 42, 1–12. Aparicio, V., Costa, J. L. (2007): Soil quality indicators under continuous cropping systems in the Argentinean Pampa. Soil Tillage Res. 96, 155–165. Baggs, E. M., Chebii, J., Ndufa, J. K. (2006): A short-term investigation of trace gas emissions following tillage and no-tillage of agroforestry residues in western Kenya. Soil Tillage Res. 90, 69–76. Cardoso, E., Nogueira, M. A., Ferraz, S. (2007): Biological N2 fixation and mineral N in common bean-maize intercropping or sole cropping in southeastern Brazil. Exp. Agr. 43, 319–330. Domínguez, G. F., Diovisalvi, N. V., Studdert, G. A., Monterubbianesi, M. G. (2009): Soil organic C and N fractions under continuous cropping with contrasting tillage systems on Mollisols of the southeastern Pampas. Soil Tillage Res. 102, 93–100. Drury, C. F., Yang, X. M., Reynolds, W. D., McLaughlin, N. B. (2008): Nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide emissions from monoculture and www.plant-soil.com 400 Dyer, Oelbermann, Echarte rotational cropping on corn, soybean and winter wheat. Can. J. Soil. Sci. 88, 163–174. Eichner, M. J. (1990): Nitrous oxide emissions from fertilized soils: Summary of available data. J. Environ. Qual. 19, 272–280. Ellert, B. H., Janzen, H. H. (2008): Nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide and methane emissions from irrigated cropping systems as influenced by legumes, manure ad fertilizer. Can. J. Soil. Sci. 88, 207–217. Hauggaard-Nielsen, H., Jensen, E. S. (2001): Evaluating pea and barley cultivars for complementarity in intercropping at different levels of soil N availability. Field Crops Res. 72, 185–196. Hutchinson, G. L., Mosier, A. R. (1981): Improved soil cover method for field measurement of nitrous oxide fluxes. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 45, 311–316. Inal, A., Gunes, A., Zhang, F., Cakmak, I. (2007): Peanut/maize intercropping induced changes in rhizosphere and nutrient concentrations in shoots. Plant Physiol. Biochem. 45, 350–356. Jarecki, M. K., Parking, T. B., Chan, A. S. K., Hatfield, J. L., Jones, R. (2008): Greenhouse gas emissions from two soils receiving nitrogen fertilizer and swine manure slurry. J. Environ. Qual. 37, 1432–1438. Li, L., Sun, J., Zhang, F., Li, X., Yang, S., Rengel, Z. (2001): Wheatmaize or wheat/soybean strip intercropping I. Yield advantage and interspecific interactions on nutrients. Field Crops Res. 71, 123–137. Midwood, A. J., Boutton, T. W. (1998): Soil carbonate decomposition by acid has little effect on the d13C or organic matter. Soil Biol. Biochem. 30, 1301–1307. Mosier, A. R., Duxbury, J. M., Freney, J. R., Heinemeyer, O., Minami, K. (1996): Nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural fields: Assessment, measurement and mitigation. Plant Soil 181, 95–108. Oelbermann, M., Echarte, L. (2011): Evaluating soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in recently established maize-soybean intercropping systems. Eur. J. Soil Sci. 62, 35–41. Omonode, R. A., Vyn, T. J., Smith, D. R., Hegymegi, P., Gál, A. (2007): Soil carbon dioxide and methane fluxes from long-term tillage systems in continuous corn and corn-soybean rotations. Soil Tillage Res. 95, 182–195. Pappa, V. A., Rees, R. M., Walker, R. L., Baddeley, J. A., Watson, C. A. (2011): Nitrous oxide emissions and nitrate leaching in an arable rotation resulting from the presence of an intercrop. Agricult. Ecosys. Environ. 141, 153–165. Parkin, A., Mosier, A. R., Smith, J., Venterea, R. T., Johnson, J., Reicosky, D., Doyle, G., McCarty, G., Baker, B. J. (2004): USDAARS GRACEnet Chamber-based trace gas flux measurement protocol. United States Department of Agriculture, Washington DC.  2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci. 2012, 175, 394–400 Posse, G., Richter, K., Corin, J. M., Lewczak, N. A., Achkar, A., Rebella, C. (2010): Carbon dioxide fluxes on a soybean field in Argentina: Influence of crop growth stages. Agricult. J. 4, 58–63. Prasad, R. B., Brook, R. M. (2005): Effect of varying maize densities on intercropped maize and soybean in Nepal. Exp. Agr. 41, 365–382. Rastogi, M., Singh, S., Pathak, H. (2002): Emission of carbon dioxide from soil. Current Sci. India 82, 510–517. Rochette, P., Bertrand, N. (2008): Soil-Surface Gas Emissions, in Carter, M. R., Gregorich, E. G. (eds.): Soil Sampling and Methods of Analysis. 2nd edn., CRC Press Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton, FL, USA, pp. 851–862. Schipanski, M., Drinkwater, L., Russelle, M. (2010): Understanding the variability in soybean nitrogen fixation across agroecosystems. Plant Soil 329, 379–397. Sehy, U., Ruser, R., Munch, J. C. (2003): Nitrous oxide fluxes from maize fields: relationship to yield, site-specific fertilization, and soil conditions. Agr. Ecosyst. Environ. 99, 97–111. Sharma, A. R., Behera, U. K. (2009): Recycling of legume residues for nitrogen economy and higher productivity in maize (Zea mays)wheat (Triticum aestivum) cropping system. Nutr. Cycl. Agroecosyst. 83, 197–210. Smith, P., Martino, D., Cai, Z., Gwary, D., Janzen, H., Kumar, P., McCarl, B., Ogle, S., O’Mara, F., Rice, C., Scholes, B., Sirotenko, O., Howden, M., McAllister, T., Pan, G. X., Romanenkov, V., Schneider, U., Towprayoon, S. (2007): Policy and technological constraints to implementation of greenhouse gas mitigation options in agriculture. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 118, 6–28. Steel, G. C., Torrie, J. H., Dikey, D. A. (1997): Principles and Procedures of Statistics: A Biometrical Approach. McGraw-Hill, New York. Studdert, G. A., Echeverría, H. E. (2000): Crop rotations and nitrogen fertilization to manage soil organic carbon dynamics. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 64, 1496–1503. Vachon, K. E., Oelbermann, M. (2011): Crop residue input and decomposition in a temperate maize-soybean intercrop. Soil Sci. 176, 157–163. Verchot, L. V., Junior, S. B., Costa de Oliveira, V., Mutegi, J. K., Cattanio, J. H., Davidson, E. A. (2008): Fluxes of CH4, CO2, NO, and N2O in an improved fallow agroforestry system in eastern Amazonia. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 126, 113–121. Waddington, S. R., Mekuria, M., Siziba, S., Karigwindi, J. (2007): Long-term yield sustainability and financial returns from grain legume-maize intercrops on a sandy soil in subhumid north central Zimbabwe. Exp. Agr. 43, 489–503. West, O. T., Post, W. M. (2002): Soil organic carbon sequestration rates by tillage and crop rotation: A global data analysis. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 66, 1930–1946. www.plant-soil.com