Response of soil organic carbon fractions to legume incorporation into cropping system and the factors affecting it: A global meta-analysis

Li, Guorui; Tang, Xueqin; Hou, Quanming; Li, Tong; Xie, Huanxin; Li, Zhiqiang; Zhang, Tishuo; Liao, Yuncheng; Wen, Xiaoxia

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2022.108231

Cited by 20 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…The metaanalysis by Wu et al (2023), studying nitrogen fertilization on SOC pools, found that POC change was also positively and significantly impacted by experiment length. Contrary to these results, Hu et al (2023) and Wooliver and Jagadamma (2023) did not observe a significant impact on the duration of CC cultivation on POC, but on MAOC in their meta-analyses. It is noteworthy that the studies included by Wooliver and Jagadamma (2023) were mostly less than 15 years long.…”

Section: Impact Of Soc Pool-related Factorscontrasting

confidence: 72%

“…Contrary to these results, Hu et al (2023) and Wooliver and Jagadamma (2023) did not observe a significant impact on the duration of CC cultivation on POC, but on MAOC in their meta-analyses. It is noteworthy that the studies included by Wooliver and Jagadamma (2023) were mostly less than 15 years long.…”

Section: Impact Of Soc Pool-related Factorscontrasting

confidence: 72%

“…When comparing these findings with the agricultural management moderators studied in other meta‐analyses, outcomes are inconsistent. For instance, Hu et al (2023) also found no significant impact of tillage effects on the POC or MAOC response to CCs, whereas Wooliver and Jagadamma (2023) reported that tillage type affected POC, but not MAOC response.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite following most meta-analytical quality criteria, the authors extracted SD only for some studies and did not extract studies independently, thereby causing overrepresentation of these observations (Hungate et al, 2009). According to another meta-analysis by Wooliver and Jagadamma (2023), who examined CC effects on several agricultural systems (e.g., cereals, vineyards and cotton) and reported combined effects, POC increased by 15% (CI: 9%-22%, n = 404), which is approximately 8% lower than our results. For MAOC they reported an increase by 6% (CI: 2%-9%, n = 178) which is similar to our findings.…”

Section: Overall Effects Of Ccs On Soc Poolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Currently, there are several meta‐analyses or quantitative synthesis available that study the effects of CCs on various SOC pools on a global (Hao et al, 2023; Hu et al, 2023; Kim et al, 2020; Muhammad et al, 2021; Wooliver & Jagadamma, 2023) and national level (Ma et al, 2021). However, a meta‐analysis quantifying these effects for European agriculture, whilst following strict quality standards, is missing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cover crops affect pool specific soil organic carbon in cropland – A meta‐analysis

Fohrafellner,

Keiblinger,

Zechmeister‐Boltenstern

et al. 2024

European J Soil Science

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Cover crops (CC) offer numerous benefits to agroecosystems, particularly in the realm of soil organic carbon (SOC) accrual and loss mitigation. However, uncertainties persist regarding the extent to which CCs, in co‐occurrence with environmental factors, influence SOC responses and associated C pools. We therefore performed a weighted meta‐analysis on the effects of CCs on the mineral‐associated organic carbon (MAOC), the particulate organic carbon (POC) and the microbial biomass carbon (MBC) pool compared to no CC cultivation in arable cropland. Our study summarized global research of comparable management, with a focus on climatic zones representative of Europe, such as arid, temperate and boreal climates. In this meta‐analysis, we included 71 independent studies from 61 articles published between 1990 and June 2023 in several scientific and grey literature databases. Sensitivity analysis was conducted and did not identify any significant publication bias. The results revealed that CCs had an overall statistically significant positive effect on SOC pools, increasing MAOC by 4.8% (95% CI: 0.6%–9.4%, n = 16), POC by 23.2% (95% CI: 13.9%–34.4%, n = 39) and MBC by 20.2% (95% CI: 11.7%–30.7%, n = 30) in the top soil, compared to no CC cultivation. Thereby, CCs feed into the stable as well as the more labile C pools. The effect of CCs on MAOC was dependent on soil clay content and initial SOC concentration, whereas POC was influenced by moderators such as CC peak biomass and experiment duration. For MBC, for example, clay content, crop rotation duration and tillage depth were identified as important drivers. Based on our results on the effects of CCs on SOC pools and significant moderators, we identified several research needs. A pressing need for additional experiments exploring the effects of CCs on SOC pools was found, with a particular focus on MAOC and POC. Further, we emphasize the necessity for conducting European studies spanning the north–south gradient. In conclusion, our results show that CC cultivation is a key strategy to promote C accrual in different SOC pools. Additionally, this meta‐analysis provides new insights into the state of knowledge regarding SOC pool changes influenced by CCs, offering quantitative summary results and shedding light on the sources of heterogeneity affecting these findings.

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Section: Impact Of Soc Pool-related Factorscontrasting

confidence: 72%