Cover crop monocultures and mixtures affect soil health indicators and crop yield in the southeast United States

Decker, Hannah L.; Gamble, Audrey V.; Balkcom, Kipling S.; Johnson, Anna M.; Hull, Noah R.

doi:10.1002/saj2.20454

Cited by 13 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…(2022) was similar to the results in this experiment among cover crop systems. Under rainfed and irrigated practices in different environments, biomass production for different cover crop species and systems ranges from 438 to 12,000 kg DM ha −1 (Duiker, 2014; Nielsen et al ., 2015; Holman et al ., 2018; Haramoto, 2019; Decker et al ., 2022; Obour et al ., 2022). The results from our experiment under irrigation fall well within this range and indicate that with irrigation there is great potential for integrating cover crops in Nevada's semi-arid environment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cool-season cover crop effects on forage productivity and short-term soil health in a semi-arid environment

Ogunleye,

Opoku,

Solomon

et al. 2023

Renew. Agric. Food Syst.

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There have been no systematic experiments conducted in Nevada's water-limited environment that examined the simultaneous benefits of soil health and feed value derived from cool-season cover cropping systems. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of different annual cool-season cover crop systems on above and belowground biomass production, plant tissue carbon and nitrogen, forage nutritive value (crude protein, acid, and neutral detergent fiber), relative feed value (RFV), and short-term soil health indicators under irrigation in a semi-arid environment. Treatments (cover crop systems) were a fallow (no cover crop), five monocultures of rye (Secale cereale L.), winter lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.), arrowleaf clover (Trifolium vesiculosum Savi), white sweetclover (Melilotus alba), forage kale (Brassica oleracea L.), and two three-species mixtures in 50-25-25 seeding ratios (CCM 1: rye, winter lentil, arrowleaf clover; CCM 2: rye, white sweetclover, forage kale). Cover crop systems were arranged in an RCBD with three replications. Plots were fall seeded in Reno, NV early October of each year (2020 and 2021) and terminated at the end of July of 2021 and 2022, respectively. Averaged across years, aboveground biomass production was lowest for the monoculture of winter lentil (4104 kg DM ha−1; SE = 1551) compared to all other cover crop systems (average = 7593 kg DM ha−1; SE = 1551). Biomass carbon produced was lowest for winter lentil (1717 kg ha−1; SE = 675) relative to all other cover crop systems (average = 3227 kg ha−1; SE = 675). The CCM 1 system had a greater C/N ratio (36.3) than CCM 2 and the monocultures of winter lentil, arrowleaf clover, and white sweetclover (average = 24.9). Belowground biomass did not differ among cover crop systems (average = 3161 kg DM ha−1; SE = 962). Crude protein concentration was similar among cover crop systems but the RFV was greatest for forage kale (RFV = 165; SE = 4.0) among all cover crop systems. Soil total N and organic carbon concentration did not differ among cover crop systems but soil K concentration was greatest under fallow (428 mg kg−1 soil; SE = 26) relative to all other systems (average = 345.6 mg kg−1 soil; SE = 26). Soil microbial community biomass was not altered by cover crop system or its interaction with year. While the short-term impact of the cover crop systems on soil health indicators was minimal relative to the fallow system, the overall results suggested that there is potential to integrate cover crops in Nevada's semi-arid environment under irrigation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cool-season cover crop effects on forage productivity and short-term soil health in a semi-arid environment

Ogunleye,

Opoku,

Solomon

et al. 2023

Renew. Agric. Food Syst.

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“…Thus, the minimum amount of CC biomass required to alter labile SOC concentration is probably about 1 Mg ha −1 . The few individual studies assessing changes in labile SOC concentration under different levels of CC biomass production support this conclusion (Beehler et al, 2017;Decker et al, 2022;Ruis et al, 2017). The optimum amount of aboveground CC biomass needed to increase labile SOC concentration and improve other soil ecosystem services can be 4 to 7 Mg ha −1 , (Blanco-Canqui, 2022; Finney et al, 2016).…”

Section: Productionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…In a temperate region, Singh et al (2021) measured impacts of cereal rye ( Secale cereale L.), hairy vetch ( Vicia sativa L.) and oat ( Avena sativa L.) + radish ( Raphanus sativus L.) CC treatments on both POXC and total SOC concentrations each year for 3 years and found that CCs had no effect on any C pool in any year compared with no CCs. Similarly, in a humid subtropical region, Decker et al (2022) measured impacts of rye, crimson clover ( Trifolium incarnatum L.), radish, and their mixes on both POXC and total SOC concentrations each year for 4 years in loamy sand and silt loam soils and found CCs had no effect on any C pool and year on the loamy sand and had mixed effects on the silt loam. Overall, the review results indicate CCs do not increase labile SOC more rapidly than total SOC concentration in all cases.…”

Section: Do Cover Crops Increase Labile C Concentration More Rapidly ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Also, in a subtropical region in Argentina, Duval et al (2016) found that wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) and oat CCs produced more biomass than vetch CC alone, and CCs increased both labile and total SOC concentration in this order: Wheat > Oat > Vetch. In a subtropical region in the U.S., Decker et al (2022) found that rye and clover CCs increased labile SOC concentration but radish CC had no effect when compared with no CC as radish produced lower amount of biomass (1.4 Mg ha −1 ) than rye (3.5 Mg ha −1 ) and clover (3.18 Mg ha −1 ). These results indicate that CC species that produce high amounts of biomass can result in greater labile SOC concentration than those that produce low amounts of biomass.…”

Section: Cover Crop Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Do cover crops impact labile C more than total C? Data synthesis

Blanco‐Canqui

2023

Soil Use and Management

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The potential of cover crops (CC) to increase total soil organic C (SOC) concentration can be inconsistent, but labile SOC is considered to be more sensitive to management than total SOC. This leads to two questions: Do CCs impact labile SOC more than total SOC? Do CCs increase labile SOC more rapidly than total SOC? This review compares CC impacts on labile and total SOC based on CC studies reporting both parameters up to 31 Dec 2022. Labile and total SOC concentrations were measured in 31 CC study locations. Cover crops increased labile SOC concentration in 58% (18 of 31) and had no effect in 42% (13 of 31) of locations, suggesting CCs do not increase labile SOC in all cases. Within the 18 locations, CCs increased labile SOC without increasing total SOC in only 19% (6 of 31 locations), while in the rest (12 of 31) of locations, CCs increased both labile and total SOC. Thus, CCs increased labile SOC more rapidly than total SOC in only one-fifth of cases. Also, the few studies that monitored changes in labile SOC with time found CCs do not always increase labile more rapidly than total SOC. In the 12 locations where CCs increased both labile and total SOC, CCs increased labile SOC by 54 ± 30% and total SOC by 23 ± 10%, indicating CCs can increase labile SOC by about two times compared with total SOC in some locations. Increased CC biomass production and reduced residue decomposition can increase labile SOC.Overall, CCs increase labile SOC in most cases but may not always increase labile SOC more rapidly than total SOC although more CC studies monitoring changes in SOC pools with time are needed to better understand CC impacts on SOC fractions under different CC management scenarios and climatic conditions.

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“…Legumes used as cover crops can also boost the availability of organic carbon and nitrogen (Balota et al., 2014; Verzeaux et al., 2016). Cover crops can have positive effects on multiple soil health indicators, but multi‐species cover crop mixes do not necessarily improve them better than one specie cover crop (Decker et al., 2022; Florence & McGuire, 2020; Reed & Morrissey, 2022). Moreover, cover crops can influence the soil microbiome.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of winter wheat and cover crops on soil microbial diversity in a corn–soybean no‐till cropping system in Quebec (Canada)

Giusti

Hogue

Jeanne

et al. 2023

Agrosystems Geosci & Env

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Intensive agriculture based on repeatedly plowing a monoculture is known to degrade the structural, chemical, and biological properties of soils. Conservation agriculture is gaining popularity worldwide with practices including reduced tillage, increased plant diversity, and implementation cover crops. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of crop rotation and cover crops on soil microbial communities. The hypothesis was that enhanced plant diversity would boost the diversity of the soil microbiome. Two rotation were tested by adding a cereal (corn [Zea mays L.]soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] and corn-soybean-wheat [Triticum aestivum L.]), as well as the implementation of cover crops. The enhanced plant diversity had no impact on total molecular biomass. The bacteria/fungi ratio varied across the plots but was not clearly linked to the enhanced plant diversity. Bacterial richness was not influenced by the treatments, whereas eukaryotic richness decreased in the presence of cover crops in one of the sites. Microbial composition was the most sensitive indicator to enhanced plant diversity. Differential relative abundance (log2 fold changes) identified proteobacterial amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) specifically related to each crop rotation system and to the presence of cover crops. There was more ASV of Actinobacteria associated with the three-crop rotation system and less ASV of Acidobacteria associated with the cover crops system compared to the two-and three-crop rotation systems, respectively. As for eukaryotes, the number of ASVs belonging to Ascomycota and Cercozoa phyla and associated with the three-crop rotation system is less important than for the two-crop rotation system. This study shows that conservation agricultural practices can influence soil microbial communities. The variations in some ASVs could have functional implications on organic matter decomposition or plant growth and in terms of soil ecosystem services and field crop sustainability.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

show abstract

Cover crop monocultures and mixtures affect soil health indicators and crop yield in the southeast United States

Cited by 13 publications

References 49 publications

Cool-season cover crop effects on forage productivity and short-term soil health in a semi-arid environment

Cool-season cover crop effects on forage productivity and short-term soil health in a semi-arid environment

Do cover crops impact labile C more than total C? Data synthesis

Impacts of winter wheat and cover crops on soil microbial diversity in a corn–soybean no‐till cropping system in Quebec (Canada)

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