Publications by authors named "Zhenan Hou"

Substituting mineral fertilizer with manure or a combination of organic amendments plus beneficial soil microorganisms (bio-manure) in agriculture is a standard practice to mitigate NO and NO emissions while enhancing crop performance and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). Here, we conducted a greenhouse trial for three consecutive vegetable growth seasons for Spinach, Coriander herb, and Baby bok choy to reveal the response of NO and NO emissions, NUE, and vegetable quality index (VQI) to fertilization strategies. Strategies included solely chemical nitrogen fertilizer (CN), 20 (M1N4) and 50% (M1N1) substitution with manure, 20 (BM1N4) and 50% (BM1N1) substitution with bio-manure, and no fertilization as a control and were organized in a completely randomized design (n = 3).

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Background: Optimizing biochar application is vital for enhancing crop production and ensuring sustainable agricultural production. A 3-year field experiment was established to explore the effects of varying the biochar application rate (BAR) on crop growth, quality, productivity and yields. BAR was set at 0, 10, 50 and 100 t ha in 2018; 0, 10, 25, 50 and 100 t ha in 2019; and 0, 10, 25 and 30 t ha in 2020.

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Background: Improvements in farmland soil organic carbon (SOC) stock enhance crop yield and soil fertility while mitigating climate change. Rational fertilization in agricultural production is crucial for safeguarding SOC stock. In this study, field experiments were conducted with different ratios of chemical fertilizer reduction and organic fertilizer substitution for three consecutive years (2018-2020) to explore their effects and interlinkages on SOC fractions, soil properties and SOC stock.

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Organic fertilizer substitution (OFS) is an effective strategy for reducing the chemical fertilizer usage; however, the effects of different OFS ratios (OFSRs) on maize yield, soil fertility, and heavy metal pollution risk are still unclear. Therefore, determining a suitable OFSR is important. Through the pot experiment, no fertilizer (CK) and organic fertilizer substituting 0% (CF, chemical fertilizer alone), 8% (OF8), 16% (OF16), and 24% (OF24) of the chemical N fertilizer were set to investigate the effects of different OFSRs on maize growth and yield, soil properties (available nutrients, carbon fractions, and carbon pool indices), and nutrients and heavy metals in grain and soil.

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Traditional organic fertilizer substitution is an effective measure for increasing crop yield and soil quality while reducing chemical fertilizer input. However, the effects of commercial organic fertilizer substitution (COFS) on soil quality and wheat yield, and the underlying mechanisms, are unknown. In this study, agricultural fields with low fertility (LF) and high (HF) fertility soils were selected for a two-year (2018-2019) field experiment in the oasis region of Northwest China.

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Tree shelterbelts are crucial for maintaining the ecological environment of oasis, but they may also compete for soil water with adjacent crops, affecting crop yields. To evaluate the impacts of the shelterbelt on water use efficiency (WUE) and normalized water productivity (WP) of adjacent cotton plants, the biomass (B) and WUE of cotton with different distances from the shelterbelt (0.1H, 0.

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Long-term saline water irrigation will increase soil salinity, adversely affect soil physical and chemical properties, and change the diversity of soil bacteria. Straw returning can improve the soil microenvironment and subsequently affect soil enzyme activity and bacterial community structure diversity. This experiment used two types of irrigation water salinity:fresh water (FW, 0.

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The sensitivity of cotton to salt stress depends on the genotypes and salt types. Understanding the mechanism of ion homeostasis under different salt stresses is necessary to improve cotton performance under saline conditions. A pot experiment using three salt stresses saline stress (NaCl+Na2SO4), alkaline stress (Na2CO3+NaHCO3), and saline-alkaline stress (NaCl+Na2SO4+Na2CO3+NaHCO3) and two cotton varieties (salt-tolerant variety L24 and salt-sensitive variety G1) was conducted.

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Drip irrigation under plastic mulch is widely used in Xinjiang, Northwest China. It can not only save water, but also reduce nutrient loss and improve fertilizer utilization. However, it is not clear whether the leaching occurs or not, what is the leaching amount? What is the relationship among fertilization, irrigation regimes, loss, cotton absorption, and cotton field under different fertilization and irrigation management under drip irrigation? Studying these issues not only provides reference for the formulation of fertilization and irrigation systems, but also is of great significance for reducing non-point source pollution.

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To better understand the mechanism of salt tolerance, we analyzed cotton growth and the ionomes in different tissues under different types of salt-alkali stress. Cotton was exposed to the soil salt and alkali stresses, NaCl, NaSO, and NaCO + NaHCO, in a pot study. Salt and alkali stress significantly inhibited cotton growth, significantly reduced root length, surface area, and volume, and significantly increased relative electrical conductivity (REC) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content but also significantly increased antioxidant enzyme activities, and proline (Pro) content.

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Biochar has been widely accepted as a soil amendment to improve nitrogen (N) use efficiency, but the effect of biochar on N transformation metabolic pathways is unclear. A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of biochar on N transformation in drip-irrigated cotton field. Four treatments were set as (1) no N fertilization (CK), (2) N fertilizer application at 300 kg ha (N300), (3) N fertilizer application plus cotton straw (N300+ST), and (4) N fertilizer application plus cotton straw-derived biochar (N300+BC).

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A shortage of freshwater resources has become a fundamental and chronic problem for sustainable agriculture development in arid regions. Use of saline water irrigation has become an important means for alleviating freshwater scarcity. However, long-term irrigation with saline water may cause salt accumulation in the soil, and further affect nitrogen transformation and NO emission.

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Soil nitrification via ammonia oxidation is a key ecosystem process in terrestrial environments, but little is known of how increasing irrigation of farmland soils with saline waters effects these processes. We investigated the effects of long-term irrigation with saline water on the abundances and community structures of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA). Irrigation with brackish or saline water increased soil salinity (EC) and NH-N compared to irrigation with freshwater, while NO-N, potential nitrification rates (PNR) and amoA gene copy numbers of AOA and AOB decreased markedly under irrigation regimes with saline waters.

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Soil salinity is a major abiotic stress factor that limits cotton production worldwide. To improve salt tolerance in cotton, an in-depth understanding of ionic balance is needed. In this study, a pot experiment using three levels of soil salinity (0%, 0.

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A five year field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of continually returning cotton straw or biochar on microbial metabolic function and bacterial community composition of soil in a cotton field under drip irrigation conditions. The experiment involved three treatments:control (single application of chemical fertilizer, CK), cotton straw (returning of cotton straw plus chemical fertilizer application, ST), and biochar (returning of cotton straw biochar plus chemical fertilizer application, BC). The returning of cotton straw and biochar both significantly increased soil organic matter, total nitrogen, and available nutrients, but the effect of returning biochar was more significant.

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Compared to drinking water or groundwater, reclaimed water contains more salts. Therefore, the effects of application of reclaimed water on the soil salinity have received great attentions. To evaluate the potential risks posed by long-term reclaimed water irrigation, we collected surface soil samples from urban green lands and suburban farmlands of Beijing represented different irrigation durations.

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The physicochemical properties of soils might be changed under the long-term reclaimed water irrigation. Its effects on soil biological activities have received great attentions. We collected surface soil samples from urban green spaces and suburban farmlands of Beijing.

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