Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Henry Gonzalez Convention Center, Hall C, Street Level
Michael Lehman and Shannon Osborne, USDA-ARS, Brookings, SD
We used the flux chamber technique to measure greenhouse gas
(carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane) fluxes from replicated corn plots
located in eastern South Dakota.� The corn was grown within a randomized,
complete block study that included both a two year (corn-soybean) rotation and
a four-year (corn/field peas/winter wheat/soybean) rotation with plots
containing the corn phase present in every year, 2006-2009.� Annual carbon dioxide fluxes were between
1000 and 1500 kg CO2-C ha for three of the four years. In 2007,
which had above-normal temperatures, CO2 fluxes were about 3500
kg/ha. �CO2 fluxes generally
tracked temperature and precipitation events.�
Nitrous oxide fluxes were less than <0.5 kg N2O-N/ha in
2006, about 1 kg/ha in 2007 and 0.7 kg/ha in 2008 and 2009. �N2O fluxes peaked during spring
thaw and following fertilization. Methane fluxes in 2006 were <0.5 kg N2O-N/ha
with some plots serving as a small sink.�
In 2007, methane fluxes were neutral, while in 2008 and 2009 methane
fluxes averaged about 0.6 kg CH4-C/ha.� Methane fluxes varied with soil
moisture.� Relatively high variations
were observed among chambers within the same plot and among plots within a
single treatment.� No significant
differences in gas fluxes due to treatment (2 yr vs. 4 yr rotation) were
observed.� These ground-based data bound
estimates of gas fluxes from corn grown in high organic matter (ca. 4%) Mollisols under rain-fed conditions in the sub-humid
climate (58 cm mean annual precipitation) and mean annual temperature of 8�C of
the northwestern U.S. corn belt. This research is part of the USDA-ARS GRACEnet program.
See more from this Division:
ASA Section: Environmental Quality
See more from this Session:
Management Impact On GHG Emissions and Soil C Sequestration: III