[Effects of different tillage measures on upland soil respiration in Loess Plateau]

A field experiment was conducted in Lijiabu Town of Dingxi City, Gansu Province to study the soil respiration and its relations with the canopy temperature and soil moisture content in a rotation system with spring wheat and pea under effects of different tillage measures. Six treatments were installed, i.e., tillage with no straw- or plastic mulch (conventional tillage, T), tillage with straw mulch (TS), tillage with plastic mulch (TP), no-tillage (NT), no-tillage with straw mulch (NTS), and no-tillage with plastic mulch (NTP). During the growth periods of spring wheat and pea, soil respiration had different change patterns, with the peaks appeared at the early jointing, grain-filling, and maturing stages of spring wheat, and at the 5-leaf, silking, flowering and poding, in spring wheat field between treatments NTS and T, and the soil respiration rate was significantlyand maturing stages of pea. There was an obvious difference in the diurnal change of soil respiration lower in NTS than in T; while the soil respiration in pea field had less diurnal chan ge. Soil respiration rate had a significant linear relationship with the canopy temperature of both spring wheat andpea, the correlation coefficient being the highest at booting stage of spring wheat and at flowering and poding stage of pea, followed by at grain-filling stage of spring wheat and at branching stage of pea. There was also a significant parabola relationship between soil respiration rate and soil moisture content, the correlation coefficient being higher under conservation tillage than under conventional tillage, with the highest under NTS. The moisture content in 10-30 cm soil layer of spring wheat field and that in 5-10 cm soil layer of pea field had the greatest effects on soil respiration. Comparing with conventional tillage, all the five conservation tillage measures decreased soil respiration, with the best effects of no-tillage with straw mulch.