The Substitution of Sphagnum for Peat as a Culture Substrate Reduces N<sub>2</sub>O Emissions from Vegetable Production Systems
Peat-based substrates have been widely used in greenhouse vegetable production (GVP). However, peat is a non-renewable resource, and there is a problem with N<sub>2</sub>O emissions when it is used in greenhouse vegetable production due to the application of large quantities of nutrient...
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MDPI AG
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Agronomy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/14/2/369 |
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| author | Xiaofeng Liang Hong Wang Yudan Zhang Rui Yang Dongdong Zhang Wanlai Zhou Zhiyong Qi Wei Lin |
| author_facet | Xiaofeng Liang Hong Wang Yudan Zhang Rui Yang Dongdong Zhang Wanlai Zhou Zhiyong Qi Wei Lin |
| author_sort | Xiaofeng Liang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Peat-based substrates have been widely used in greenhouse vegetable production (GVP). However, peat is a non-renewable resource, and there is a problem with N<sub>2</sub>O emissions when it is used in greenhouse vegetable production due to the application of large quantities of nutrient solutions. Sphagnum (SP) is a precursor substance and a renewable resource for peat formation, and it has good physical and chemical properties. However, there has been no study on the effect of using sphagnum to replace peat in greenhouse vegetable production on N<sub>2</sub>O emissions. Therefore, this study used a peat substrate as the control treatment (CK), with sphagnum replacing peat at 25% (25SP), 50% (50SP), 75% (75SP), and 100% (100SP) in six treatment groups. Moreover, lettuce was used as the experimental subject in potting experiments, and the physicochemical properties, N<sub>2</sub>O emissions, N<sub>2</sub>O isotope δ value, and N<sub>2</sub>O-related microbial activity and community structures were determined using different treatments. Compared with the CK treatment, the 25SP treatment significantly reduced N<sub>2</sub>O emissions by 55.35%, while the 75SP treatment significantly increased N<sub>2</sub>O emissions by 67.76%. The 25SP treatment reduced N<sub>2</sub>O to N<sub>2</sub> to the highest extent and demonstrated the lowest contribution of fungal denitrification (FD) and bacterial nitrification (BN) processes, thereby resulting in lower N<sub>2</sub>O emissions. In contrast, NH4+ and NO<sub>3</sub><sup>−</sup> were the main substrates for N<sub>2</sub>O emissions; the 75SP treatment had higher NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup> and NO<sub>3</sub><sup>−</sup> contents and a lower relative abundance of the <i>nosZ</i> gene, thereby resulting in higher N<sub>2</sub>O emissions. In addition, N<sub>2</sub>O production and reduction were dominated by bacterial denitrification for all treatments. Thus, this study analyzed the community composition of denitrifying bacterial genera and their association with physicochemical properties. The results indicated that the dominant denitrifying genus in the peat substrate was <i>Rhodanobacter</i> and that sphagnum replacement reduced the relative abundance of <i>Rhodanobacter</i>. The dominant genus was <i>Massilia</i> at 100% sphagnum replacement. More importantly, <i>Rhodanobacter</i> was correlated with C/N and electrical conductivity (EC), whereas <i>Massilia</i> was affected by NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup> and the water-filled pore space (WFPS). Therefore, different denitrification-dominant genera were affected by different environmental factors, which indirectly affected N<sub>2</sub>O emission. In summary, the 25SP treatment was able to improve nitrogen use efficiency and had no significant effect on lettuce yield. Therefore, 25% sphagnum replacement is the most suitable percentage for peat replacement. |
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| series | Agronomy |
| spelling | doaj.art-2ff5a06bd4594c8fbf467dcc4161bb872024-02-23T15:04:19ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952024-02-0114236910.3390/agronomy14020369The Substitution of Sphagnum for Peat as a Culture Substrate Reduces N<sub>2</sub>O Emissions from Vegetable Production SystemsXiaofeng Liang0Hong Wang1Yudan Zhang2Rui Yang3Dongdong Zhang4Wanlai Zhou5Zhiyong Qi6Wei Lin7State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-Arid Arable Land in Northern China, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, ChinaInstitute of Urban Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chengdu 610213, ChinaCollege of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, ChinaInstitute of Urban Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chengdu 610213, ChinaInstitute of Urban Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chengdu 610213, ChinaInstitute of Urban Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chengdu 610213, ChinaInstitute of Urban Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chengdu 610213, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-Arid Arable Land in Northern China, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, ChinaPeat-based substrates have been widely used in greenhouse vegetable production (GVP). However, peat is a non-renewable resource, and there is a problem with N<sub>2</sub>O emissions when it is used in greenhouse vegetable production due to the application of large quantities of nutrient solutions. Sphagnum (SP) is a precursor substance and a renewable resource for peat formation, and it has good physical and chemical properties. However, there has been no study on the effect of using sphagnum to replace peat in greenhouse vegetable production on N<sub>2</sub>O emissions. Therefore, this study used a peat substrate as the control treatment (CK), with sphagnum replacing peat at 25% (25SP), 50% (50SP), 75% (75SP), and 100% (100SP) in six treatment groups. Moreover, lettuce was used as the experimental subject in potting experiments, and the physicochemical properties, N<sub>2</sub>O emissions, N<sub>2</sub>O isotope δ value, and N<sub>2</sub>O-related microbial activity and community structures were determined using different treatments. Compared with the CK treatment, the 25SP treatment significantly reduced N<sub>2</sub>O emissions by 55.35%, while the 75SP treatment significantly increased N<sub>2</sub>O emissions by 67.76%. The 25SP treatment reduced N<sub>2</sub>O to N<sub>2</sub> to the highest extent and demonstrated the lowest contribution of fungal denitrification (FD) and bacterial nitrification (BN) processes, thereby resulting in lower N<sub>2</sub>O emissions. In contrast, NH4+ and NO<sub>3</sub><sup>−</sup> were the main substrates for N<sub>2</sub>O emissions; the 75SP treatment had higher NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup> and NO<sub>3</sub><sup>−</sup> contents and a lower relative abundance of the <i>nosZ</i> gene, thereby resulting in higher N<sub>2</sub>O emissions. In addition, N<sub>2</sub>O production and reduction were dominated by bacterial denitrification for all treatments. Thus, this study analyzed the community composition of denitrifying bacterial genera and their association with physicochemical properties. The results indicated that the dominant denitrifying genus in the peat substrate was <i>Rhodanobacter</i> and that sphagnum replacement reduced the relative abundance of <i>Rhodanobacter</i>. The dominant genus was <i>Massilia</i> at 100% sphagnum replacement. More importantly, <i>Rhodanobacter</i> was correlated with C/N and electrical conductivity (EC), whereas <i>Massilia</i> was affected by NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup> and the water-filled pore space (WFPS). Therefore, different denitrification-dominant genera were affected by different environmental factors, which indirectly affected N<sub>2</sub>O emission. In summary, the 25SP treatment was able to improve nitrogen use efficiency and had no significant effect on lettuce yield. Therefore, 25% sphagnum replacement is the most suitable percentage for peat replacement.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/14/2/369sphagnumpeatN<sub>2</sub>O production and consumptionmicrobial pathwaydual-isotope map |
| spellingShingle | Xiaofeng Liang Hong Wang Yudan Zhang Rui Yang Dongdong Zhang Wanlai Zhou Zhiyong Qi Wei Lin The Substitution of Sphagnum for Peat as a Culture Substrate Reduces N<sub>2</sub>O Emissions from Vegetable Production Systems Agronomy sphagnum peat N<sub>2</sub>O production and consumption microbial pathway dual-isotope map |
| title | The Substitution of Sphagnum for Peat as a Culture Substrate Reduces N<sub>2</sub>O Emissions from Vegetable Production Systems |
| title_full | The Substitution of Sphagnum for Peat as a Culture Substrate Reduces N<sub>2</sub>O Emissions from Vegetable Production Systems |
| title_fullStr | The Substitution of Sphagnum for Peat as a Culture Substrate Reduces N<sub>2</sub>O Emissions from Vegetable Production Systems |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Substitution of Sphagnum for Peat as a Culture Substrate Reduces N<sub>2</sub>O Emissions from Vegetable Production Systems |
| title_short | The Substitution of Sphagnum for Peat as a Culture Substrate Reduces N<sub>2</sub>O Emissions from Vegetable Production Systems |
| title_sort | substitution of sphagnum for peat as a culture substrate reduces n sub 2 sub o emissions from vegetable production systems |
| topic | sphagnum peat N<sub>2</sub>O production and consumption microbial pathway dual-isotope map |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/14/2/369 |
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