The effects of aerated irrigation on soil respiration, oxygen, and porosity

Abstract To ameliorate soil oxygen deficiencies around subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) drippers, aerated irrigation (AI) was introduced to supply aerated water to the soil through venturi installed in the SDI pipeline. The objectives of this study were to assess the effects of AI on soil respiration (SR), air-filled porosity (AFP), soil temperature (ST), and oxygen concentrations (OCC). Total soil respiration (TSR), biological activity temperature index (BAT), and soil oxygen consumption (OCS) based on SR, ST, and OCC, respectively, were subsequently calculated to explore the relationships between TSR, BAT, OCS, OCC, and AFP. Greenhouse-based experiments included two treatments: AI and unaerated SDI (CK), during the tomato growing season in the fall of 2015. The results showed that compared with CK, AI treatment significantly increased OCC and AFP (by 16 and 7.4%, respectively), as well as TSR and OCS (by 24.21 and 22.91%, respectively) (P