Postdoc Jashan Dhaliwal published a fascinating article, titled “Computed tomography scanning revealed macropore-controlled N2O emissions under long-term tillage and cover cropping practices.”
The recent study explored the intricate relationship between soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and pore characteristics influenced by long-term tillage and cover cropping practices. Using X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) with a resolution of 59 μm, various soil pore structure parameters were examined using intact soil cores. The findings revealed significant insights. Conventional tillage (Conv.T) soils exhibited a 27.4% increase in CT-derived macroporosity compared to no-till (NT) soils, while hairy vetch (HV) resulted in a 31.1% boost over the no cover crop (NC) treatment. Intriguingly, these CT-derived properties remained unaffected by tillage practices. These pore characteristics play a crucial role in influencing soil gas diffusivity, and consequently, N2O emissions. Conv.T and HV were found to emit significantly higher levels of N2O compared to NT and NC, respectively. Furthermore, a notable correlation was observed between macroporosity, relative soil gas diffusivity, and N2O emissions. These findings underscore the pivotal role of soil macroporosity and relative gas diffusivity in enhancing our understanding and predictability of N2O emissions, particularly under conditions of high soil moisture.
You can read the article, by clicking here or by using the citation below.
Dhaliwal, J.K., Anderson, S.H., Lee, J., Sindhu, J., & Saha, D. (2024). Computed tomography scanning of intact soil cores revealed macropore-controlled N2O emissions under long-term soil health practices. Science of The Total Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171782