Soil nitrogen oxide fluxes from lowland forests converted to smallholder rubber and oil palm plantations in Sumatra, Indonesia

摘要

Oil palm (iElaeis guineensis/i) and rubber (iHevea brasiliensis/i) plantations cover large areas of former rainforest in Sumatra, Indonesia, supplying the global demand for these crops. Although forest conversion is known to influence soil nitrous oxide (Nsub2/subO) and nitric oxide (NO) fluxes, measurements from oil palm and rubber plantations are scarce (for Nsub2/subO) or nonexistent (for NO). Our study aimed to (1)?quantify changes in soil–atmosphere fluxes of N oxides with forest conversion to rubber and oil palm plantations and (2)?determine their controlling factors. In Jambi, Sumatra, we selected two landscapes that mainly differed in texture but were both on heavily weathered soils: loam and clay Acrisol soils. Within each landscape, we investigated lowland forests, rubber trees interspersed in secondary forest (termed as qjungle rubber/q), both as reference land uses and smallholder rubber and oil palm plantations as converted land uses. In the loam Acrisol landscape, we conducted a follow-on study in a large-scale oil palm plantation (called PTPN VI) for comparison of soil Nsub2/subO fluxes with smallholder oil palm plantations. Land-use conversion to smallholder plantations had no effect on soil N-oxide fluxes (iP/i?=?0.?58 to 0.76) due to the generally low soil N availability in the reference land uses that further decreased with land-use conversion. Soil Nsub2/subO fluxes from the large-scale oil palm plantation did not differ with those from smallholder plantations (iP/i?=?0.?15). Over 1-year measurements, the temporal patterns of soil N-oxide fluxes were influenced by soil mineral N and water contents. Across landscapes, annual soil Nsub2/subO emissions were controlled by gross nitrification and sand content, which also suggest the influence of soil N and water availability. Soil Nsub2/subO fluxes (μg?N?msup?2/sup?hsup?1/sup) were 7?±?2 to 14?±?7 (reference land uses), 6?±?3 to 9?±?2 (rubber), 12?±?3 to 12?±?6 (smallholder oil palm) and 42?±?24 (large-scale oil palm). Soil NO fluxes (μg?N?msup?2/sup?hsup?1/sup) were ?0.6?±?0.7 to 5.7?±?5.8 (reference land uses), ?1.2?±?0.5 to ?1.0?±?0.2 (rubber) and ?0.2?±?1.2 to 0.7?±?0.7 (smallholder oil palm). To improve the estimate of soil N-oxide fluxes from oil palm plantations in this region, studies should focus on large-scale plantations (which usually have 2 to 4?times higher N fertilization rates than smallholders) with frequent measurements following fertilizer application.