Influences of Catch Crop and Its Incorporation Time on Soil Carbon and Carbon-Related Enzymes

Abstract

Catch crops that are cultivated for green manure play an important role in improving soil properties. A 3-year field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of catch crop (pea, Pisum sativum L.) management, i.e., incorporation of catch crop in October/November (autumn) and March (spring), and without catch crop (control), on soil organic carbon (SOC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and the activities of carbon (C)-cycle enzymes, including cellulase (Cel), β-glucosidase (Glu) and invertase (Inv). Additionally, soil total nitrogen (TN) and pHKCl were investigated. The catch crop was cultivated from August to October each year during 2008–2010. Soil samples were collected from the field of spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) that had been grown after the catch crop. Soil samples for microbial activity determination were taken in March, May, June and August in 2009, 2010 and 2011, while SOC and TN contents as well as pHKCl were determined in March and August. The chemical properties studied did not show significant changes as influenced by the experimental factors. The use of catch crop significantly increased the MBC content and the activities of C-cycle enzymes compared to the control. When the catch crop was incorporated in spring, a significantly higher MBC content was noted in March and May compared to autumn incorporation. Moreover, the spring incorporation of the catch crop significantly increased the Glu activity (except March), while the activities of Cel and Inv as well as the rate of soil basal respiration were usually unaffected by the time of catch crop incorporation. Greater microbial biomass and higher enzyme activities in the catch crop-treated soil, compared to the control, indicated that the application of the catch crop as a green manure could be recommended as a promising technique to increase the biological activity of the soil. Since there was no significant effect or no consistent results were obtained related to the time of catch crop incorporation, both spring and autumn applications can be recommended as a management tool to improve the status of soil properties during the growth of a subsequent crop.