{"title":"Effects of drip and flood irrigation on carbon dioxide exchange and crop growth in the maize ecosystem in the Hetao Irrigation District, China","authors":"Chaoqun Li, Wenting Han, Manman Peng","doi":"10.1007/s40333-024-0093-0","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Drip irrigation and flood irrigation are major irrigation methods for maize crops in the Hetao Irrigation District, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. This research delves into the effects of these irrigation methods on carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) exchange and crop growth in this region. The experimental site was divided into drip and flood irrigation zones. The irrigation schedules of this study aligned with the local commonly used irrigation schedule. We employed a developed chamber system to measure the diurnal CO<sub>2</sub> exchange of maize plants during various growth stages under both drip and flood irrigation methods. From May to September in 2020 and 2021, two sets of repeated experiments were conducted. In each experiment, a total of nine measurements of CO<sub>2</sub> exchange were performed to obtain carbon exchange data at different growth stages of maize crop. During each CO<sub>2</sub> exchange measurement event, CO<sub>2</sub> flux data were collected every two hours over a day-long period to capture the diurnal variations in CO<sub>2</sub> exchange. During each CO<sub>2</sub> exchange measurement event, the biological parameters (aboveground biomass and crop growth rate) of maize and environmental parameters (including air humidity, air temperature, precipitation, soil water content, and photosynthetically active radiation) were measured. The results indicated a V-shaped trend in net ecosystem CO<sub>2</sub> exchange in daytime, reducing slowly at night, while the net assimilation rate (net primary productivity) exhibited a contrasting trend. Notably, compared with flood irrigation, drip irrigation demonstrated significantly higher average daily soil CO<sub>2</sub> emission and greater average daily CO<sub>2</sub> absorption by maize plants. Consequently, within the maize ecosystem, drip irrigation appeared more conducive to absorbing atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub>. Furthermore, drip irrigation demonstrated a faster crop growth rate and increased aboveground biomass compared with flood irrigation. A strong linear relationship existed between leaf area index and light utilization efficiency, irrespective of the irrigation method. Notably, drip irrigation displayed superior light use efficiency compared with flood irrigation. The final yield results corroborated these findings, indicating that drip irrigation yielded higher harvest index and overall yield than flood irrigation. The results of this study provide a basis for the selection of optimal irrigation methods commonly used in the Hetao Irrigation District. This research also serves as a reference for future irrigation studies that consider measurements of both carbon emissions and yield simultaneously.</p>","PeriodicalId":49169,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Arid Land","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Arid Land","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-024-0093-0","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Drip irrigation and flood irrigation are major irrigation methods for maize crops in the Hetao Irrigation District, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. This research delves into the effects of these irrigation methods on carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange and crop growth in this region. The experimental site was divided into drip and flood irrigation zones. The irrigation schedules of this study aligned with the local commonly used irrigation schedule. We employed a developed chamber system to measure the diurnal CO2 exchange of maize plants during various growth stages under both drip and flood irrigation methods. From May to September in 2020 and 2021, two sets of repeated experiments were conducted. In each experiment, a total of nine measurements of CO2 exchange were performed to obtain carbon exchange data at different growth stages of maize crop. During each CO2 exchange measurement event, CO2 flux data were collected every two hours over a day-long period to capture the diurnal variations in CO2 exchange. During each CO2 exchange measurement event, the biological parameters (aboveground biomass and crop growth rate) of maize and environmental parameters (including air humidity, air temperature, precipitation, soil water content, and photosynthetically active radiation) were measured. The results indicated a V-shaped trend in net ecosystem CO2 exchange in daytime, reducing slowly at night, while the net assimilation rate (net primary productivity) exhibited a contrasting trend. Notably, compared with flood irrigation, drip irrigation demonstrated significantly higher average daily soil CO2 emission and greater average daily CO2 absorption by maize plants. Consequently, within the maize ecosystem, drip irrigation appeared more conducive to absorbing atmospheric CO2. Furthermore, drip irrigation demonstrated a faster crop growth rate and increased aboveground biomass compared with flood irrigation. A strong linear relationship existed between leaf area index and light utilization efficiency, irrespective of the irrigation method. Notably, drip irrigation displayed superior light use efficiency compared with flood irrigation. The final yield results corroborated these findings, indicating that drip irrigation yielded higher harvest index and overall yield than flood irrigation. The results of this study provide a basis for the selection of optimal irrigation methods commonly used in the Hetao Irrigation District. This research also serves as a reference for future irrigation studies that consider measurements of both carbon emissions and yield simultaneously.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Arid Land is an international peer-reviewed journal co-sponsored by Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Science Press. It aims to meet the needs of researchers, students and practitioners in sustainable development and eco-environmental management, focusing on the arid and semi-arid lands in Central Asia and the world at large.
The Journal covers such topics as the dynamics of natural resources (including water, soil and land, organism and climate), the security and sustainable development of natural resources, and the environment and the ecology in arid and semi-arid lands, especially in Central Asia. Coverage also includes interactions between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere, and the relationship between these natural processes and human activities. Also discussed are patterns of geography, ecology and environment; ecological improvement and environmental protection; and regional responses and feedback mechanisms to global change. The Journal of Arid Land also presents reviews, brief communications, trends and book reviews of work on these topics.