Effect of mulch, no-tillage and no-fertiliser as sustainable practices on soil organic carbon and carbon dioxide emission

Our study aimed to provide a scientific basis for an appropriate tillage management of wheat-maize rotation system, which is beneficial to the sustainable development of agriculture in the fluvo-aquic soil areas in China. Four tillage treatments were investigated after maize harvest, including rotary tillage with straw returning (RT), deep ploughing with straw returning (DP), subsoiling with straw returning (SS), and no tillage with straw mulching (NT). We evaluated soil organic carbon (SOC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), permanganate oxidizable carbon (POXC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), and particulate organic carbon (POC) in bulk soil and soil aggregates with five particle sizes (>5 mm, 5–2 mm, 2–1 mm, 1–0.25 mm, and <0.25 mm) under different tillage managements. Results showed that compared with RT treatment, NT treatment not only increased soil aggregate stability, but also enhanced SOC, DOC, and POC contents, especially those in large size macroaggregates. DP treatment also showed positive effects on soil aggregate stability and labile carbon fractions (DOC and POXC). Consequently, we suggest that no tillage or deep ploughing, rather than rotary tillage, could be better tillage management considering carbon storage. Meanwhile, we implied that mass fractal dimension (Dm) and POXC could be effective indicators of soil quality, as affected by tillage managements.

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Effects of Management and Hillside Position on Soil Organic Carbon Stratification in Mediterranean Centenary Olive Grove

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11040650 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 650

Author(s):

Jesús Aguilera-Huertas ◽

Beatriz Lozano-García ◽

Manuel González-Rosado ◽

Luis Parras-Alcántara

Keyword(s):

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Quality ◽

Management Practices ◽

Soil Management ◽

Olive Grove ◽

No Tillage ◽

Short Term ◽

Degradation Degree

The short- and medium—long-term effects of management and hillside position on soil organic carbon (SOC) changes were studied in a centenary Mediterranean rainfed olive grove. One way to measure these changes is to analyze the soil quality, as it assesses soil degradation degree and attempts to identify management practices for sustainable soil use. In this context, the SOC stratification index (SR-COS) is one of the best indicators of soil quality to assess the degradation degree from SOC content without analyzing other soil properties. The SR-SOC was calculated in soil profiles (horizon-by-horizon) to identify the best soil management practices for sustainable use. The following time periods and soil management combinations were tested: (i) in the medium‒long-term (17 years) from conventional tillage (CT) to no-tillage (NT), (ii) in the short-term (2 years) from CT to no-tillage with cover crops (NT-CC), and (iii) the effect in the short-term (from CT to NT-CC) of different topographic positions along a hillside. The results indicate that the SR-SOC increased with depth for all management practices. The SR-SOC ranged from 1.21 to 1.73 in CT0, from 1.48 to 3.01 in CT1, from 1.15 to 2.48 in CT2, from 1.22 to 2.39 in NT-CC and from 0.98 to 4.16 in NT; therefore, the soil quality from the SR-SOC index was not directly linked to the increase or loss of SOC along the soil profile. This demonstrates the time-variability of SR-SOC and that NT improves soil quality in the long-term.

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Soil organic carbon changes after 12 years of no-tillage and tillage of Grantsburg soils in southern Illinois

Soil and Tillage Research ◽

10.1016/j.still.2004.09.009 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 81 (2) ◽

pp. 217-225 ◽

Cited By ~ 44

Author(s):

K OLSON ◽

J LANG ◽

S EBELHAR

Keyword(s):

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

No Tillage ◽

Southern Illinois

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Tillage in Relation to Distribution of Nutrients and Organic Carbon in the Soil

Agriculture (Pol nohospodárstvo) ◽

10.2478/v10207-011-0003-2 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 57 (1) ◽

pp. 21-30

Author(s):

Božena Šoltysová ◽

Martin Danilovič

Keyword(s):

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Total Nitrogen ◽

Spring Barley ◽

Conventional Tillage ◽

Soil Tillage ◽

Reduced Tillage ◽

Available Phosphorus ◽

No Tillage ◽

The Difference

Tillage in Relation to Distribution of Nutrients and Organic Carbon in the SoilChanges of total nitrogen, available phosphorus, available potassium and soil organic carbon were observed on gleyic Fluvisols (locality Milhostov) at the following crops: grain maize (2005), spring barley (2006), winter wheat (2007), soya (2008), grain maize (2009). The experiment was realized at three soil tillage technologies: conventional tillage, reduced tillage and no-tillage. Soil samples were collected from three depths (0-0.15 m; 0.15-0.30 m; 0.30-0.45 m). The ratio of soil organic carbon to total nitrogen was also calculated.Soil tillage affects significantly the content of total nitrogen in soil. The difference between the convetional tillage and soil protective tillages was significant. The balance showed that the content of total nitrogen decreased at reduced tillage by 5.2 rel.%, at no-tillage by 5.1 rel.% and at conventional tillage by 0.7 rel.%.Similarly, the content of organic matter in the soil was significantly affected by soil tillage. The content of soil organic carbon found at the end of the research period was lower by 4.1 rel.% at reduced tillage, by 4.8 rel.% at no-tillage and by 4.9 rel.% at conventional tillage compared with initial stage. The difference between the convetional tillage and soil protective tillages was significant.Less significant relationship was found between the soil tillage and the content of available phosphorus. The balance showed that the content of available phosphorus was increased at reduced tillage (by 4.1 rel.%) and was decreased at no-tillage (by 9.5 rel.%) and at conventional tillage (by 3.3 rel.%).Tillage did not significantly affect the content of available potassium in the soil.

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Soil organic carbon accumulation and carbon dioxide emissions during a 6-year study in irrigated continuous maize under two tillage systems in semiarid Mediterranean conditions

Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research ◽

10.5424/sjar/2021191-16260 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. e1102

Author(s):

Maroua Dachraoui ◽

Aurora Sombrero

Keyword(s):

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Temperature ◽

Grain Yield ◽

Co2 Emissions ◽

Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽

Carbon Accumulation ◽

No Tillage ◽

Short Term ◽

The Impact

Aim of study: To evaluate the effects of conventional tillage (CT) and no tillage (NT) systems on the soil organic carbon (SOC) changes, CO2 emissions and their relation with soil temperature and grain yield in a monoculture of irrigated maize during six years.Area of study: In Zamadueñas experimental field in the Spanish province of Valladolid, from 2011 to 2017.Material and methods: The SOC content was determined by collecting soil samples up to 30 cm in November at two years interval. Short-term CO2 emissions were measured simultaneously with soil temperature using a respiration chamber and a hand-held probe immediately before, after every tillage operation and during the maize cycle.Main results: The SOC stock of the top 30 cm soil layers was 13% greater under NT than CT. Short-term CO2 emissions were significantly higher under CT ranging from 0.8 to 3.4 g CO2 m-2 h-1 immediately after tillage while under NT system, soil CO2 fluxes were low and stable during this study period. During the first 48 h following tillage, cumulative CO2 emissions ranged from 0.6 to 2.4 Mg CO2 ha-1 and from 0.2 to 0.3 Mg CO2 ha-1 under CT and NT systems, respectively. Soil temperature did not show significant correlation with CO2 emissions; however, it depended mostly on the time of measurement.Research highlights: No tillage increased the SOC accumulation in the topsoil layer, reduced CO2 emissions without decreasing maize grain yield and minimized the impact on climate change compared to CT system.

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Impact of Long-Term No-Tillage and Cropping System Management on Soil Organic Carbon in an Oxisol: A Model for Sustainability

Agronomy Journal ◽

10.2134/agronj2007.0121er ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 100 (6) ◽

pp. 1787-1787 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ademir Calegari ◽

W. L. Hargrove ◽

Danilo Dos Santos Rheinheimer ◽

Ricardo Ralisch ◽

Daniel Tessier ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Cropping System ◽

System Management ◽

No Tillage

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Microbial properties in European arable soils with different tillage systems

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-10240 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Deborah Linsler ◽

Jacqueline Gerigk ◽

Ilka Schmoock ◽

Rainer Georg Jörgensen ◽

Martin Potthoff

Keyword(s):

Microbial Biomass ◽

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Microbial Biomass Carbon ◽

Conventional Tillage ◽

No Tillage ◽

Biomass Carbon ◽

Site Specific ◽

Carbon And Nitrogen ◽

Tillage Practices

Reduced tillage is assumed to be a suitable practice to maintain and promote microbial biomass and microbial activity in the soil. The microbial biomass in particular is considered as a sensitive indicator for detecting soil disturbances. The objective of this study was to quantify the influence of different tillage practices on microbial parameters in the soil. Furthermore, we analyzed the relation of those microbial parameters with site-specific conditions.To get a deeper insight in that topic, soils from different fields of agricultural farms with different tillage practices in France (12 fields), Romania (15 fields) and Sweden (17 fields) were examined within the &#8220;SoilMan project&#8221;. The tillage practices were no-tillage (absence of any tillage), minimum tillage (non-inversion tillage for instance by chisel plough or cultivator) and conventional tillage (inversion tillage by ploughing), all of which were carried out for at least five years prior to sampling. Soil samples were taken in spring 2018 from all fields under winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) at three soil depths (0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, 20-30 cm). As microbial parameters we measured microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen contents, ergosterol contents (as proxy for fungi) and basal respiration rates. For site-specific conditions we measured soil organic carbon, total nitrogen and total phosphorus contents, texture, pH and the soil water content.Results show that microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen were more affected by soil type and soil texture as well as climatic conditions (mean precipitation and temperature) than by tillage practices. For instance, an increased clay content had a positive effect on the microbial biomass and, in addition to the higher average annual temperature, explained the generally low values &#8203;&#8203;in France. The lack of inversion tillage primarily led to stratified levels of soil organic carbon, microbial biomass carbon and ergosterol contents, which can be explained by the lack of crop residue incorporation. There were hardly any differences in microbial indicators between the tillage intensities when looking at the whole of the sampled soil profile (0-30 cm). In France, the microbial biomass carbon / soil organic carbon ratio was lower for no-tillage than for conventional tillage, which may indicate, among other things, that the mechanically ground organic matter incorporated into the soil under conventional tillage was better colonized by microorganisms. However, this effect could not be confirmed in the other countries. The metabolic quotient was generally increased at the lowest sampled depth (20-30 cm), irrespective of the cultivation.We can conclude that the soil tillage intensity influenced the distribution of microbial biomass carbon and soil organic carbon contents more strongly than the total amounts in the sampled soil profile and that the soil texture had a greater impact on microbial soil properties than the agricultural management practice.

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