The effect of reduced tillage agriculture on carbon dynamics in silt loam soils |
| |
Authors: | Karoline D’Haene Steven Sleutel Stefaan De Neve Donald Gabriels Georges Hofman |
| |
Affiliation: | (1) Department of Soil Management, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium;(2) Present address: ILVO Social Sciences, Burg. Van Gansberghelaan 115, Box 2, B-9820 Merelbeke, Belgium |
| |
Abstract: | Reduced tillage (RT) agriculture is an effective measure to reduce soil loss from soils susceptible to erosion in the short-term
and is claimed to increase the soil organic carbon (SOC) stock. The change in distribution and total SOC stock in the 0–60 cm
layer, the stratification of microbial biomass carbon (MB-C) content in the 0–40 cm layer and the carbon (C) mineralization
in the upper 0–5 cm layer in silt loam soils in Western Europe with different periods of RT agriculture were evaluated. Ten
fields at seven locations, representing the important RT types and maintained for a different number of years, and eight fields
under conventional tillage (CT) agriculture with similar soil type and crop rotation were selected. RT agriculture resulted
in a higher stratification of SOC in the soil profile than CT agriculture. However, the total SOC stock in the 0–60 cm layer
was not changed, even after 20 of years RT agriculture. The MB-C was significantly higher in the 0–10 cm layer under RT agriculture,
even after only 5 years, compared to CT agriculture. The higher SOC and MB-C content in the upper 0–5 cm layer of RT fields
resulted in a higher C mineralization rate in undisturbed soil in the laboratory. Simulating ploughing by disturbing the soil
resulted in inconsistent changes (both lower and higher) of C mineralization rates. A crop rotation with root crops, with
heavy soil disturbance every 2 or 3 years at harvest, possibly limited the anticipated positive effect of RT agriculture in
our research. |
| |
Keywords: | Reduced tillage agriculture Soil organic carbon Microbial biomass carbon Carbon mineralization Root crops |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|