Observation and estimation of mercury exchange fluxes from soil under different crop cultivars and planting densities in North China Plain

The emission of mercury (Hg) from cropland soil greatly affects the global Hg cycle. Combinations of different crop cultivars and planting densities will result in different light transmittance under canopies, which directly affects the solar and heat radiation flux received by the soil surface below crops. In turn, this might lead to differences in the soil–air total gaseous mercury (TGM) exchange under different cropping patterns. However, soil–air TGM exchange fluxes in croplands under differing canopies have been poorly investigated. Here, a one-year observation of TGM exchange flux was conducted for cropland soils covering five different crop cultivars and three planting densities in North China Plain using the dynamic flux chamber method. The results showed that light transmittance under the canopies was the key control on soil–air TGM exchange fluxes. High light transmittance can enhance soil TGM emission rates and increase the magnitude of diurnal variations in soil–air TGM exchange fluxes. Furthermore, we found that there were piecewise–function relationships (Peak function–constant equation) between light transmittance under the different canopies and the numbers of days after crop sowing. The soil–air TGM exchange fluxes showed a parabolic response to changes in light transmittance under the different canopies. A second-order model was established for the response relationship between soil–air TGM exchange flux and soil Hg concentration, total solar radiation above the canopy, and numbers of days after sowing. The estimated annual average soil–air TGM exchange flux was 5.46 ± 21.69 ng m⁻² h⁻¹ at corn–wheat rotation cropland with 30 cm row spacing using this second-order model. Our results might a data reference and a promising foundation for future model development of soil–air TGM exchange in croplands under different crop cultivars and planting densities.