BG Biogeosciences BG Biogeosciences 1726-4189 Copernicus Publications Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/bg-11-6221-2014 Water-saving ground cover rice production system reduces net greenhouse gas fluxes in an annual rice-based cropping system Yao Z. 1 Du Y. 1 Tao Y. 2 Zheng X. 1 Liu C. 1 Lin S. 2 Butterbach-Bahl K. 3 State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China College of Resource and Environmental Science, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany 17 11 2014 11 22 6221 6236 Copyright: © 2014 Z. Yao et al. 2014 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This article is available from https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/11/6221/2014/bg-11-6221-2014.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/11/6221/2014/bg-11-6221-2014.pdf

To safeguard food security and preserve precious water resources, the technology of water-saving ground cover rice production system (GCRPS) is being increasingly adopted for rice cultivation. However, changes in soil water status and temperature under GCRPS may affect soil biogeochemical processes that control the biosphere–atmosphere exchanges of methane (CH<sub>4</sub>), nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O) and carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>). The overall goal of this study is to better understand how net ecosystem greenhouse gas exchanges (NEGE) and grain yields are affected by GCRPS in an annual rice-based cropping system. Our evaluation was based on measurements of the CH<sub>4</sub> and N<sub>2</sub>O fluxes and soil heterotrophic respiration (CO<sub>2</sub> emissions) over a complete year, and the estimated soil carbon sequestration intensity for six different fertilizer treatments for conventional paddy and GCRPS. The fertilizer treatments included urea application and no N fertilization for both conventional paddy (CUN and CNN) and GCRPS (GUN and GNN), and solely chicken manure (GCM) and combined urea and chicken manure applications (GUM) for GCRPS. Averaging across all the fertilizer treatments, GCRPS increased annual N<sub>2</sub>O emission and grain yield by 40 and 9%, respectively, and decreased annual CH<sub>4</sub> emission by 69%, while GCRPS did not affect soil CO<sub>2</sub> emissions relative to the conventional paddy. The annual direct emission factors of N<sub>2</sub>O were 4.01, 0.09 and 0.50% for GUN, GCM and GUM, respectively, and 1.52% for the conventional paddy (CUN). The annual soil carbon sequestration intensity under GCRPS was estimated to be an average of −1.33 Mg C ha<sup>−1</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup>, which is approximately 44% higher than the conventional paddy. The annual NEGE were 10.80–11.02 Mg CO<sub>2</sub>-eq ha<sup>−1</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup> for the conventional paddy and 3.05–9.37 Mg CO<sub>2</sub>-eq ha<sup>−1</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup> for the GCRPS, suggesting the potential feasibility of GCRPS in reducing net greenhouse effects from rice cultivation. Using organic fertilizers for GCRPS considerably reduced annual emissions of CH<sub>4</sub> and N<sub>2</sub>O and increased soil carbon sequestration, resulting in the lowest NEGE (3.05–5.00 Mg CO<sub>2</sub>-eq ha<sup>−1</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup>). Accordingly, water-saving GCRPS with organic fertilizer amendments was considered the most promising management regime for simultaneously achieving relatively high grain yield and reduced net greenhouse gas emission.

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