Comparative effects of different maize straw returning modes on soil humus composition and humic acid structural characteristics in Northeast China

In order to evaluate the effects of different maize straw returning modes on humus composition and humic acid (HA) structural, a field experiment was designed to have five treatments, i.e. Treatment CK (no straw returned), Treatment EIS (straw incorporated evenly into the soil using the crashing-ridging technique), Treatment SP (straw plowed into the soil), Treatment SM (straw returned as mulch) and Treatment SG (straw returned as pellets). Our results showed that Treatment EIS significantly increased the content of soil organic carbon (SOC), soil humus substances (HEC), soil humic acid carbon (HAC) and fulvic acid carbon (FAC) by 27.8%, 47.6%, 63.3% and 33.8%, respectively, as compared with CK. Among all the straw returning treatments, Treatment EIS was the most significant in effect of increasing the content of HEC, HAC and FAC. Moreover, Treatment EIS altered the composition of humus more significantly than all the other treatments, by increasing the proportion of alkyl C and the ratio of aliphatic C/aromatic C. These results suggest that straw returning accelerated the accumulation of soil organic C and various components of humus, significantly improved the structure of soil HA, with the practice of EIS in particular.