Abstract
Agricultural management practices play an important role in soil organic carbon (SOC) protection within soil aggregates. However, there is a lack of information on the effects of N fertilization on C protection within aggregates under no‐tillage (NT) systems. The effects of organic fertilization (with pig [Sus scrofa] slurry and poultry manure) and mineral N fertilization on soil aggregation and physical C protection dynamics under NT soils were investigated. Two experiments were established in a semiarid area of northeastern Spain. In the organic fertilization experiment, treatment with pig slurry at two N rates (100 and 200 kg N ha−1), poultry manure (100 kg N ha−1), and a control (0 kg N ha−1) treatment were compared. In the mineral fertilization experiment, increasing rates of N fertilizer (0, 40, 80, 120, and 160 kg N ha−1) were compared. Water‐stable macroaggregates (>0.250 mm) and their C concentration, the distribution of dry‐sieved aggregates, total SOC and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) were quantified in the soil surface in two cropping seasons. Organic fertilizers slightly increased the proportion of water‐stable macroaggregates but caused no differences in MBC, SOC, or water‐stable macroaggregate C concentration. In the mineral N fertilization experiment, similar water‐stable macroaggregate, water‐stable macroaggregate C and SOC concentrations were observed among N fertilizer doses. Overall differences in water‐stable macroaggregates between sampling dates were greater than differences between fertilization treatments. Our study demonstrates that, in the short‐term, the use of organic or mineral N fertilizers hardly improves the stability of the macroaggregates and their C protective capacity when NT is performed. This finding could be related to the limitations imposed by water in the Mediterranean areas and the buffering effect of long‐term NT adoption on soil aggregate stability and C protection.
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