The effects of aerated irrigation on soil respiration, oxygen, and porosity

摘要

To ameliorate soil oxygen deficiencies around subsurface drip irrigation(SDI) drippers, aerated irrigation(AI) was introduced to supply aerated water to the soil through venturi installed in the SDI pipeline. The objectives of this study were to assess the effects of AI on soil respiration(SR), air-filled porosity(AFP), soil temperature(ST), and oxygen concentrations(OCC). Total soil respiration(TSR), biological activity temperature index(BAT), and soil oxygen consumption(OCS) based on SR, ST, and OCC, respectively, were subsequently calculated to explore the relationships between TSR, BAT, OCS, OCC, and AFP. Greenhouse-based experiments included two treatments: AI and unaerated SDI(CK), during the tomato growing season in the fall of 2015. The results showed that compared with CK, AI treatment significantly increased OCC and AFP(by 16 and 7.4%, respectively), as well as TSR and OCS(by 24.21 and 22.91%, respectively)(P<0.05). Mean fruit yield with AI treatment was also 23% higher(P<0.05) than that with CK. When BAT was controlled, partial correlations between TSR, OCS, OCC, and AFP were all significant in the AI treatment but not in the CK treatment. TSR was more sensitive to the interaction effects of OCC, OCS, AFP, and BAT under the AI treatment. Thus, the significantly increased TSR with AI appeared to be due to the favorable soil aeration conditi ons(higher OCC and AFP). Furthermore, the improvements in soil aeration conditions and respiration with AI appeared to facilitate the improvement in fruit yields, which also suggests the economic benefits of AI.