Differences in Organic C Mineralization Between Aerobic and Submerged Conditions in Paddy Soils of Southern Jiangsu Province, China

Moisture regime plays a crucial role in the mineralization of soil organic carbon (SOC). In this paper, the dynamics of SOC mineralization in typical paddy soils of Changshu, Jiangsu Province, China, was investigated by incubation test in laboratory. The differences in SOC mineralization under aerobic and submerged conditions of paddy soils were also studied. Results showed that the daily mineralization of SOC under different moisture regimes was significantly different in the whole incubation period, at the beginning of the incubation, it decreased quickly under aerobic condition, but increased rapidly under submerged condition, and both remained constant after 10 d of incubation. The differences in SOC mineralization were found to be mainly at the beginning period of the incubation and decreased along with the incubation time. Thus, the difference was not significantly different at the later incubation period. The respiration intensity, daily and cumulative mineralization of SOC under aerobic condition was 2.26–19.11, 0.96–2.41, and 0.96–2.41 times than those under submerged condition, respectively. Statistic analyses showed that the higher the contents of microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen, the more significant difference in respiration intensity between aerobic and submerged conditions, but the higher the contents of microbial biomass nitrogen and dissolved organic carbon, the more significant difference in daily mineralization of SOC between the two conditions. The decrease in soil microbial activity under submerged condition was the main reason leading to the decrease in respiration intensity, but the decrease in SOC mineralization was also correlated with the changes in dissolved organic carbon over the whole incubation period.