Effects of aerated irrigation and nitrogen fertilization on soil properties and water and nitrogen use efficiency in maize.

3.1.3 Soil respiration rate The soil respiration rate under different treatments showed a trend of ‘first increasing and then decreasing’ throughout the maize reproductive period ( Figure 5 ).

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Although the high level of nitrogen fertilizer N3 (450 kg·hm -2 ) helped to increase the soil respiration rate, the increase in respiration rate of N2(300 kg·hm -2 ) and N3(450 kg·hm -2 ) treatments stabilised in 2023 and there was a decreasing trend in soil respiration rate under N3(450 kg·hm -2 ) treatment ( Figure 7c ). 3.2 Soil chemical properties 3.2.1 Organic carbon and N content Aerated irrigation combined with nitrogen fertilizer application significantly increased the soil organic carbon content in the tillage layer (0–40 cm), and this effect became more pronounced with the number of treatment years and the nitrogen application rate ( Figure 8a ).

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Both WUE (WUE) and agronomic nitrogen use efficiency (AEN) showed an increasing trend followed by a decline as N input increased, while nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) declined with higher N rates, indicating diminishing returns and potential N losses at excessive application levels.

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