Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Soil respiration and its temperature sensitivity for walnut intercropping, walnut orchard and cropland systems in North China

Author(s):

Sen Lu ¹, Jinsong Zhang ¹, Ping Meng ¹*, Wenjuan Liu ²

Recieved Date: 2012-01-13, Accepted Date: 2012-04-26

Abstract:

Agroforestry systems have unique advantages over conventional agricultural land in the carbon (C) balance. In this study, soil respiration under a tree intercropping system, an orchard and an agricultural land in north China were quantified during the growing season of March-November 2010. In the tree intercropping system, eight-year-old walnut (Juglans regia L.) was intercropped with an annual wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) - mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) rotation. In the orchard and cropland, the eight-year-old walnut and wheat-mung bean rotation were grown as a mono practice, respectively. During the study period, the overall soil respiration rate was 1.89, 1.63 and 2.05 µmol m² s¹ for the walnut intercropping, walnut orchard and cropland systems, respectively. Thus, there was a reduction in soil respiration when the cropland was converted to walnut intercropping and walnut orchard in north China. The higher soil CO₂ emission in the cropland result from the higher soil organic carbon and soil temperature. The van’t Hoff model described the soil respiration as a function of soil temperature in the walnut intercropping system with R² > 0.78. Moreover, the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration (Q₁₀) was determined in the walnut intercropping system. The Q₁₀ values were similar in the walnut intercropping system and walnut orchard at 2.33 and 2.28, respectively, and significantly greater than for cropland (1.59). The result suggests that the walnut intercropping system had a higher sensitivity of soil respiration to temperature change than agricultural land. Compared with cropland, the slightly lower soil organic carbon in the walnut intercropping system may due to the short-term agroforestry practice, while in general the soil organic matter requires long term of turnover interactions. There was no significant difference in the walnut basal diameter and tree height between orchard and intercropping systems, showing that walnut growth was not affected by the introduction of the crop. Our results suggest that walnut intercropping could be practiced above conventional agriculture and produced less soil CO₂ emissions. 

Keywords:

Soil respiration, agroforestry system, temperature sensitivity, walnut intercropping system, carbon cycling

---

Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2012
Volume: 10
Issue: 2
Category: Environment
Pages: 1204-1208

---

Full text for Subscribers

---

Information:

Note to users

The requested document is freely available only to subscribers/registered users with an online subscription to the Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment. If you have set up a personal subscription to this title please enter your user name and password. All abstracts are available for free.

Article purchasing

If you like to purchase this specific document such as article, review or this journal issue, contact us. Specify the title of the article or review, issue, number, volume and date of the publication. Software and compilation, Science & Technology, all rights reserved. Your use of this website details or service is governed by terms of use. Authors are invited to check from time to time news or information.

---

Purchase this Article:   20 Purchase PDF Order Reprints for 15

---

Share this article :