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Linking dissolved organic carbon cycling to organic carbon fluxes in rice paddies under different water management practices

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Abstract

Aims

Although paddy soils are generally characterized by relatively high dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations and fluxes, little is yet known on how water management influences the cycling of this important organic C pool. This work aims at providing insights into the link between DOC cycling during rice cropping and organic C input to the subsoils and export with surface waters, as well as methane (CH4) emissions in a temperate paddy soil as a function of different water management practices.

Methods

DOC quantity, quality and fluxes, as well as CH4 emissions were evaluated at field-scale over two cropping seasons for three water management systems including continuous flooding, dry seeding with delayed flooding, and intermittent irrigation.

Results

DOC cycling in the different water management systems were strongly linked to the reducing soil conditions resulting from field flooding. In contrast to dry seeding or intermittent irrigation, adoption of continuous flooding not only favoured the accumulation of DOC in the topsoil (>10–20 mg C l−1), but also enhanced C inputs to the subsoil (33–51 g C m−2), and exports with surface waters (18–44 g C m−2). Moreover, changes in DOC quality in paddy soils were linked to a positive feedback on the abiotic release of soil-derived DOC, and substrate availability for CH4 production.

Conclusions

Water management practices in rice paddies strongly affect the temporal trends in DOC quantity and quality over the cropping season, with important implications on organic C fluxes.

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Acknowledgements

This study was jointly supported by the POLORISO project funded by the Ministero delle Politiche Agricole, Alimentari e Forestali (MiPAAF), and the CarboPAD project (RBFR13BG31) funded by the Ministero dell’ Istruzione, dell’ Università e della Ricerca (MIUR) within the framework “Futuro in Ricerca 2013”. We thank Arianna Facchi, Michele Rienzner and Enrico Casati for stimulating discussions and comments on earlier versions of the manuscript, as well as Simone Pelissetti and Matteo Peyron for their assistance with the field work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Soil Biogeochemistry, Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Torino, Largo Paolo Braccini 2, 10095, Grugliasco, TO, Italy

    Daniel Said-Pullicino, Eleonora F. Miniotti, Marcella Sodano, Cristina Lerda & Luisella Celi

  2. Environmental Agronomy, Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Torino, Grugliasco, Italy

    Chiara Bertora & Dario Sacco

  3. Rice Research Centre, Ente Nazionale Risi, Castello d’Agogna, Italy

    Eleonora F. Miniotti & Marco Romani

  4. Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences - Production, Landscape, Agroenergy, University of Milan, Milan, Italy

    Enrico A. Chiaradia & Sandra Cesari de Maria

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  1. Daniel Said-Pullicino
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  2. Eleonora F. Miniotti
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  3. Marcella Sodano
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  4. Chiara Bertora
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  6. Enrico A. Chiaradia
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  7. Marco Romani
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  8. Sandra Cesari de Maria
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  9. Dario Sacco
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  10. Luisella Celi
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Correspondence to Daniel Said-Pullicino.

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Said-Pullicino, D., Miniotti, E.F., Sodano, M. et al. Linking dissolved organic carbon cycling to organic carbon fluxes in rice paddies under different water management practices. Plant Soil 401, 273–290 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2751-7

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