Autoclaved citrate-extractable protein as a soil health indicator relates to soil properties and crop production

Sainju, Upendra M.; Liptzin, Daniel; Stevens, William B.

doi:10.1007/s10705-022-10230-4

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 55 publications

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“…Our study is the first to investigate how ACE protein relates to soybean yield and switchgrass biomass. However, the positive trends of ACE protein with soybean yield and switchgrass biomass at the end of the growing season in August in all systems coincide with previous research that has shown that ACE protein is positively linked to corn yield (Sprunger et al, 2019;Svedin et al, 2022;Wade et al, 2020) and crop yield in dryland cropping systems in coarse-textured soil (Sainju et al, 2022). We speculate that ACE protein contributed to increased plant productivity due to its role as the largest fraction of organically bound N that may be available to microbes through mineralization to provide plant-available inorganic N (Hurisso et al, 2018).…”

Section: 6supporting

confidence: 88%

Soil protein: A key indicator of soil health and nitrogen management

Naasko,

Martin,

Mammana

et al. 2023

Soil Science Soc of Amer J

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Monitoring soil nitrogen (N) dynamics in agroecosystems is foundational to soil health management and is critical for maximizing crop productivity in contrasting management systems. The newly established soil health indicator, autoclaved‐citrate extractable (ACE) protein, measures an organically bound pool of N. However, the relationship between ACE protein and other N‐related soil health indicators is poorly understood. In this study, ACE protein is investigated in relation to other soil N measures at four timepoints across a single growing season along a 33‐year‐old replicated eight‐system management intensity gradient located in southwest Michigan, USA. On average, polyculture perennial systems that promote soil health had two to four times higher (2–12 g kg−1 higher) ACE protein concentrations compared to annual cropping and monoculture perennial systems. In addition, ACE protein fluctuated less than total soil N, NH4+‐N, and NO3−‐N across the growing season, which shows the potential for ACE protein to serve as a reliable indicator of soil health and soil organic N status. Furthermore, ACE protein was positively correlated with total soil N and NH4+‐N and negatively correlated with NO3−‐N at individual sampling timepoints across the management intensity gradient. In addition, ACE protein, measured toward the end of the growing season, showed a consistent and positive trend with yield across different systems. This study highlights the potential for ACE protein as an indicator of sustainable management practices, SOM cycling, and soil health and calls for more studies investigating its relationship with crop productivity.

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