Improvement of soil aggregate-associated carbon sequestration capacity after 14 years of conservation tillage

Chen, Siyu; Cao, Yang; Zhang, Tingting; Cui, Jichao; Guo, Liangliang; Shen, Ying; Zhou, Pengchong; Han, Huifang; Ning, Tangyuan

doi:10.1017/s0014479722000370

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Soil aggregates are the key determinants of nutrient exchange in soil and the basic constituent unit of soil structure [1,2]. The stability of soil aggregates and soil organic matter are important characteristics influencing soil quality, environmental sustainability, and crop yield in agricultural systems [3,4]. At the same time, soil aggregate stability is a viable and effective factor in understanding the complex interactions between soil physicochemical properties and soil structure [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Straw Returning on Soil Aggregates and Its Organic Carbon and Nitrogen Retention under Different Mechanized Tillage Modes in Typical Hilly Regions of Southwest China

Huang,

Huang

et al. 2024

Agronomy

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Tillage modes and straw returning influence soil aggregate stability and the distribution of organic carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) in aggregates of different particle sizes. In the typical hilly regions of southwest China, the predominant soil type is purple soil, characterized by heavy texture and high stickiness, with relatively lower soil fertility compared to other soil types. The improper use of fertilizers and field management practices further exacerbates soil compaction. However, abundant straw resources in the region provide an opportunity for comprehensive straw utilization. The effective utilization of straw resources is of significant importance for stabilizing agricultural ecological balance, improving resource utilization efficiency, and alleviating ecological pressure. Previously, most studies have focused on the impact of different mechanized tillage systems on the physical and chemical properties of soil in hilly areas, while research on the preservation of water-stable aggregates’ organic C and N content remains limited. In this study, the soil properties of fields under a winter pea–summer corn rotation for two years were studied with regards to the effects of straw returning on its water-stable aggregate distribution, macroaggregate content (R0.25), mean weight diameter (MWD), geometric mean diameter (GMD), and the organic C and N content in soil aggregates of different particle sizes and at different depths. The effects of five different tillage modes were assessed, namely rotary tillage with straw mixed retention (RTM), conventional tillage with straw burial retention (CTB), no-tillage with straw covered retention (NTC), subsoiling with straw covered retention (STC), and no-tillage without straw retention (NT). Based on the study results, under different tillage modes, straw returning effectively enhanced the soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) reserves at the plow layer (0–30 cm), SOC increased by 17.2% to 88%, and TN increased by 8.6% to 85.9%. At the same time, the content of 0.25–2 mm aggregates increased under the straw-return treatments under different tillage patterns. The NT treatment had the lowest R0.25 and MWD and GMD values for soil aggregates at different depths, which were significantly different (p < 0.05) from the other treatment modes. The correlation coefficients between SOC and soil aggregate stability indices ranged from 0.68 to 0.90, with most of them showing highly significant positive correlations (p < 0.01). In conclusion, straw returning under different tillage systems has improved soil aggregate stability and promoted soil structure stability. Specifically, the STC treatment has shown more pronounced effects on soil improvement in the upper soil layer of the hilly regions in southwest China, while the RTM treatment is beneficial for improving the lower soil layer. Therefore, the comprehensive experimental results indicate that the combination of STC and RTM treatments represents the most promising mechanized tillage and straw returning practices for the hilly regions in southwest China.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Straw Returning on Soil Aggregates and Its Organic Carbon and Nitrogen Retention under Different Mechanized Tillage Modes in Typical Hilly Regions of Southwest China

Huang,

Huang

et al. 2024

Agronomy

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“…In order to solve these problems, we studied the effects of sustainable conservation tillage on soil carbon and nitrogen storage and CPMI in the wheat field on a Loess Plateau, this study will provide theoretical basis and basic data for understanding the dynamic changes of farmland soil organic carbon and nitrogen storage and the carbon and nitrogen sequestration potential of conservation tillage measures. For this reason, we put forward some assumptions: (1) The implementation of sustainable conservation tillage may positively affect the content of carbon and nitrogen components in the soil by reducing the disturbance to the soil and improving the soil texture (2) Sustainable conservation tillage may enhance soil compactness, increase soil organic carbon and TN content, and then increase soil carbon and nitrogen storages (Chen et al, 2022); (3) Sustainable conservation tillage may significantly affect soil carbon pool, compared with traditional tillage, it will improve CPMI and has good carbon and nitrogen sequestration potential (Yadav et al, 2021). We believe that this study will contribute to the sustainable development of the regional farmland ecosystem.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil nitrogen and carbon storages and carbon pool management index under sustainable conservation tillage strategy

Yuan

Liang²,

Zhuo³

et al. 2023

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Agricultural practices are significant to increase the soil nitrogen and organic carbon sequestration to adapt and mitigate the climate change in a recent climate change scenario. With this background, we carried out research in the Longzhong Loess Plateau region of China. This research was conducted under a randomized complete block design, with three replicates. Adopt the method of combining outdoor positioning field test with indoor index measurement to explore the soil bulk density (BD), nitrogen components (viz., nitrate nitrogen (NO3−-N), ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N), total nitrogen (TN), microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) and nitrogen storage (NS), and carbon components [viz., soil organic carbon (SOC), easily oxidized organic carbon (EOC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and carbon storage (CS), carbon pool index (CPI), carbon pool activity (A) and carbon pool activity index (AI) and carbon pool management index (CPMI)] and C/N, ratio under different tillage practices [namely., conventional tillage (CT), no tillage (NT), straw mulch with conventional tillage (CTS) and straw mulch with no tillage (NTS)]. Our results depicted that different conservation tillage systems significantly increased soil BD over conventional tillage. Compared with CT, the NTS, CTS and NT reduced soil NO3−-N, increased the soil NH4+-N, TN, MBN and NS, among them, NS under NTS, CTS and NT treatment was 25.0, 14.8 and 13.1% higher than that under CT treatment, respectively. Additionally, conservation tillage significantly increased SOC, EOC, MBC, CS, CPI, AI, CPMI and C/N, ratio than CT. Inside, CS under NTS, CTS and NT treatment was 19.4, 12.1 and 13.4% higher than that under CT treatment, respectively. Moreover, during the 3-year study period, the CPMI under NTS treatment was the largest (139.26, 140.97, and 166.17). Consequently, we suggest that NTS treatment was more sustainable strategy over other investigated conservation tillage practices and should be recommended as climate mitigation technique under climate change context.

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“…Some studies concluded that the adoption of no-tillage promotes aggregate formation in surface soils and effectively increases the number of MSA [11] and WSA compared with conventional tillage [12]. Other studies suggested that the application of subsoiling can increase the WSA content in the 0-40 cm soil layer compared with conventional tillage [13] and increase the >0.25 mm WSA in the 0-5 cm soil layer compared with no-tillage [14]. Differences in the results may be related to site-specific conditions such as climate, soil texture, sampling time, cropping system, and tillage intensity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil Aggregates Stability Response to Summer Fallow Tillage in Rainfed Winter Wheat Fields on the Loess Plateau

Qi,

Cui,

Tian

et al. 2023

Agronomy

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Soil aggregates are one of the most important indicators of soil quality, which can be affected strongly by soil tillage. Little is known about the composition and stability of soil aggregates under summer fallow tillage in rainfed winter wheat fields on the Loess Plateau. Soil aggregates were assessed before sowing and after the harvest of winter wheat under three tillage treatments during summer fallow, including minimum tillage (FMT), subsoiling (FST) and plough tillage (FPT). The results showed that the 0.25–2 mm soil mechanical-stable aggregates (MSA) under the FPT treatment were significantly higher (25.5%–42.1%) compared with the FMT treatment in the 0–40 cm soil layer before sowing. The FMT treatment significantly increased the 0.5–2 mm size WSA content (24.6–342.4%) compared with the FPT treatment in the 0–20 cm soil layer before sowing and after harvesting. Compared with the FMT treatment, the FPT treatment significantly increased the stability of the MSA in the 0–20 cm soil layer before sowing and the FST treatment significantly increased the stability of the MSA in the 0–50 cm soil layer after harvest. The FPT treatment significantly decreased the geometric mean diameter (4.2–9.3%) and the stability rate (73.6–252.6%) and increased the destruction rate (1.3–3.5%) and the unstable aggregate index of the WSA (0.8–2.3%) in the 0–20 cm soil layer before sowing, compared with the FMT treatment. In summary, the application of FPT and FST increased the stability of the MSA in the 0–20 cm soil layer; however, FMT improved the stability of the WSA in the 0–40 cm soil layer.

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Improvement of soil aggregate-associated carbon sequestration capacity after 14 years of conservation tillage

Cited by 3 publications

References 65 publications

Effects of Straw Returning on Soil Aggregates and Its Organic Carbon and Nitrogen Retention under Different Mechanized Tillage Modes in Typical Hilly Regions of Southwest China

Effects of Straw Returning on Soil Aggregates and Its Organic Carbon and Nitrogen Retention under Different Mechanized Tillage Modes in Typical Hilly Regions of Southwest China

Soil nitrogen and carbon storages and carbon pool management index under sustainable conservation tillage strategy

Soil Aggregates Stability Response to Summer Fallow Tillage in Rainfed Winter Wheat Fields on the Loess Plateau

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