Emission and distribution of phosphine in paddy fields and its relationship with greenhouse gases

- The relationship between CO2,CH4 and PH3 in paddy fields was researched.
- For the emission flux, both CO2 and CH4 had a significant positive correlation with PH3.
- MBP level was positively correlated with soil CO2 at the late stage of rice growth.
- pH, Eh, TP and ACP were the main environmental factors affecting the MBP level in paddy soils.

Phosphine (PH3), as a gaseous phosphide, plays an important role in the phosphorus cycle in ecosystems. In this study, the emission and distribution of phosphine, carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) in paddy fields were investigated to speculate the future potential impacts of enhanced greenhouse effect on phosphorus cycle involved in phosphine by the method of Pearson correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis. During the whole period of rice growth, there was a significant positive correlation between CO2 emission flux and PH3 emission flux (r = 0.592, p = 0.026, n = 14). Similarly, a significant positive correlation of emission flux was also observed between CH4 and PH3 (r = 0.563, p = 0.036, n = 14). The linear regression relationship was determined as [PH3]flux = 0.007[CO2]flux + 0.063[CH4]flux − 4.638. No significant differences were observed for all values of matrix-bound phosphine (MBP), soil carbon dioxide (SCO2), and soil methane (SCH4) in paddy soils. However, there was a significant positive correlation between MBP and SCO2 at heading, flowering and ripening stage. The correlation coefficients were 0.909, 0.890 and 0.827, respectively. In vertical distribution, MBP had the analogical variation trend with SCO2 and SCH4. Through Pearson correlation analysis and multiple stepwise linear regression analysis, pH, redox potential (Eh), total phosphorus (TP) and acid phosphatase (ACP) were identified as the principal factors affecting MBP levels, with correlative rankings of Eh > pH > TP > ACP. The multiple stepwise regression model ([MBP] = 0.456 ∗ [ACP] + 0.235 ∗ [TP] − 1.458 ∗ [Eh] − 36.547 ∗ [pH] + 352.298) was obtained. The findings in this study hold great reference values to the global biogeochemical cycling of phosphorus in the future.

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