Effects of Long-term Conservation Tillage on Soil Nutrients in Sloping Fields in Regions Characterized by Water and Wind Erosion.

Chunjian Tan,Weiyu Wang,Yongzhong Feng,Xue Cao,Shuai Yuan,Bo Qiao

doi:10.1038/srep17592

Chunjian Tan, Weiyu Wang + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/srep17592

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Abstract

Conservation tillage is commonly used in regions affected by water and wind erosion. To understand the effects of conservation tillage on soil nutrients and yield, a long-term experiment was set up in a region affected by water and wind erosion on the Loess Plateau. The treatments used were traditional tillage (CK), no tillage (NT), straw mulching (SM), plastic-film mulching (PM), ridging and plastic-film mulching (RPM) and intercropping (In). Our results demonstrate that the available nutrients in soils subjected to non-traditional tillage treatments decreased during the first several years and then remained stable over the last several years of the experiment. The soil organic matter and total nitrogen content increased gradually over 6 years in all treatments except CK. The nutrient content of soils subjected to conservative tillage methods, such as NT and SM, were significantly higher than those in soils under the CK treatment. Straw mulching and film mulching effectively reduced an observed decrease in soybean yield. Over the final 6 years of the experiment, soybean yields followed the trend RPM > PM > SM > NT > CK > In. This trend has implications for controlling soil erosion and preventing non-point source pollution in sloping fields by sacrificing some food production.

Highlights

The Loess Plateau is the main agricultural region in China
From 2008 to 2013, the soil organic matter content in the 0–10 cm soil layer increased to varying degrees under different tillage methods except in the CK treatment
The surface soil organic matter content in the plastic-film mulching (PM) and ridging and plastic-film mulching (RPM) treatments was relatively low compared to the other treatments in the long term, which may be because the coverage is not conducive to crop leaves and other residues returned to the soil, thereby inhibiting soil biological activity

Summary

Introduction

Because of long-term overuse of resources, the surface soil structure is loose, causing serious soil erosion and restricting sustainable agricultural development in arid regions of the Loess Plateau. Water and soil loss from sloping fields is the main cause of soil erosion and deterioration of the environment on the Loess Plateau. The Liu Daogou watershed is located in a region of the Loess Plateau crisscrossed by water and wind erosion in the northern part of Shaanxi Province. The environment in this area is extremely fragile. We systematically analyzed six consecutive years of data from a long-term experiment conducted from 2008 to 2013 that investigated the effects of different tillage methods on soil nutrients and yield mechanisms. The colorimetric scale colors represent the soil organic matter content (g·kg−1)

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Conclusion