6533b858fe1ef96bd12b6403

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Soil carbon dynamics as affected by long-term contrasting cropping systems and tillages under semiarid Mediterranean climate

Agata NovaraLuigi BadaluccoVito Armando LaudicinaLuciano Gristina

subject

Mediterranean climateEcologySettore AGR/13 - Chimica Agrariafood and beveragesSoil ScienceSoil carbonCrop rotationAgricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous)Labile carbon pools Field CO2 flux Carbon stock Wheat monoculture Wheat–faba rotation TillageSettore AGR/02 - Agronomia E Coltivazioni ErbaceeCropTillageAgronomyRespirationEnvironmental scienceCropping systemMonoculture

description

Abstract In a dryland Mediterranean agrosystem (Sicily, Italy) a comparative study was carried out among two crop systems (wheat/wheat and wheat/bean) after 19 years under three most used tillage managements (conventional, dual layer and no-tillage), in order to ascertain the effects of those experimental factors, single and combined, on various soil organic C pools (total and extractable organic C, microbial biomass C, basal respiration). Field CO 2 fluxes from soil, throughout a year, were also determined. Moreover, C input and output were assessed, as well as microbial and metabolic quotients. Tillage management more than cropping system affected the soil organic C stored in the first 15 cm of soil. After 19 years, no-tillage caused a 3.6 Mg ha −1 increase of C content in wheat/faba rotation while of 5.6 Mg ha −1 in wheat monoculture. The higher soil total organic C content in wheat monoculture was ascribed to a lower quality of residues supplied (higher both C/N ratio and acid detergent fibre (ADF) content). Moreover, wheat/bean rotation increased soil microbial biomass C, basal respiration and microbial quotient, thus suggesting that crop rotation more than tillage management was the driving factor in improving soil biochemical indicators.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2014-01-01Applied Soil Ecology
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2013.09.002