Tracking Changes on Soil Structure and Organic Carbon Sequestration after 30 Years of Different Tillage and Management Practices

Ramón Bienes,Iris Esparza,Blanca Sastre,Maria Jose Marques,Omar Antón,Luis Navarrete,José L Hernánz,Remedios Alarcón,Andrés García-Díaz,Víctor Sánchez-Girón,María J Sánchez Del Arco

doi:10.3390/agronomy11020291

Ramón Bienes, Iris Esparza + Show 9 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11020291

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Abstract

Long-term field trials are essential for monitoring the effects of sustainable land management strategies for adaptation and mitigation to climate change. The influence of more than thirty years of different management is analyzed on extensive crops under three tillage systems, conventional tillage (CT), minimum tillage (MT), and no-tillage (NT), and with two crop rotations, monoculture winter-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and wheat-vetch (Triticum aestivum L.-Vicia sativa L.), widely present in the center of Spain. The soil under NT experienced the largest change in organic carbon (SOC) sequestration, macroaggregate stability, and bulk density. In the MT and NT treatments, SOC content was still increasing after 32 years, being 26.5 and 32.2 Mg ha−1, respectively, compared to 20.8 Mg ha−1 in CT. The SOC stratification (ratio of SOC at the topsoil/SOC at the layer underneath), an indicator of soil conservation, increased with decreasing tillage intensity (2.32, 1.36, and 1.01 for NT, MT, and CT respectively). Tillage intensity affected the majority of soil parameters, except the water stable aggregates, infiltration, and porosity. The NT treatment increased available water, but only in monocropping. More water was retained at the permanent wilting point in NT treatments, which can be a disadvantage in dry periods of these edaphoclimatic conditions.

Highlights

The influence of more than thirty years of different management is analyzed on extensive crops under three tillage systems, conventional tillage (CT), minimum tillage (MT), and no-tillage (NT), and with two crop rotations, monoculture winter-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and wheat-vetch (Triticum aestivum L.-Vicia sativa L.), widely present in the center of Spain
Herbaceous crops occupy most of the agricultural surface of the planet, and the choice of soil management practice can significantly modify the quality and physical properties of soil, one of which is the soil organic carbon (SOC) content [1,2,3,4], in the context of adaptation to climate change and considering that the accumulation of SOC is a positive indicator of soil conservation
In the first 10 cm, there was a gradual and significant increase in SOC in both the MT and NT treatments, which was faster in NT ains cthaen tboeposobislegrvraedufaolrlythienclarestaspeedriaosdtohfesttiulldaygeininFtiegnusritey1d. eHcorewaesevder(,CthTer

Summary

Introduction

Herbaceous crops occupy most of the agricultural surface of the planet, and the choice of soil management practice can significantly modify the quality and physical properties of soil, one of which is the soil organic carbon (SOC) content [1,2,3,4], in the context of adaptation to climate change and considering that the accumulation of SOC is a positive indicator of soil conservation. Tillage practices can influence SOC storage and dynamics, which is important for both agricultural productivity and carbon sequestration [6,7]. Soils managed using CT tend to form surface splash crusts and hardened layers at the base of the tillage horizon, hindering water infiltration [11], leading to loss of soil [12] and nutrients [13]

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