Nitrogen and phosphorus losses by surface runoff and soil microbial communities in a paddy field with different irrigation and fertilization managements

Rice cultivation usually involves high water and fertilizer application rates leading to the nonpoint pollution of surface waters with phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N). Here, a 10-year field experiment was conducted to investigate N and P losses and their impact factors under different irrigation and fertilization regimes. Results indicated that T2 (Chemical fertilizer of 240 kg N ha(−1), 52 kg P ha(−1), and 198 kg K ha(−1) combined with shallow intermittent irrigation) decreased N loss by 48.9% compared with T1 (Chemical fertilizer of 273 kg N ha(−1), 59 kg P ha(−1), and 112 kg K ha(−1) combined with traditional flooding irrigation). The loss ratio (total N loss loading/amount of applied N) of N was 9.24–15.90%, whereas that of P was 1.13–1.31% in all treatments. Nitrate N (NO(3)(-)−N) loss was the major proportion accounting for 88.30–90.65% of dissolved inorganic N loss through surface runoff. Moreover, the N runoff loss was mainly due to high fertilizer input, soil NO(3)(-)−N, and ammonium N (NH(4)(+)−N) contents. In addition, the N loss was accelerated by Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Planotomycetes, Nitrospirae, Firmicutes bacteria and Ascomycota fungi, but decreased by Chytridiomycota fungi whose contribution to the N transformation process. Furthermore, T2 increased agronomic N use efficiency (AEN) and rice yield by 32.81% and 7.36%, respectively, in comparison with T1. These findings demonstrated that T2 might be an effective approach to ameliorate soil chemical properties, regulate microbial community structure, increase AEN and consequently reduce N losses as well as maintaining rice yields in the present study.