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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Aggregation index, carbon, nitrogen, and natural abundance of 13C and 15N in soil aggregates and bulk soil cultivated with onion under crop successions and rotations

Lucas Dupont Giumbelli A , Arcângelo Loss https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3005-6158 A F , Barbara Santos Ventura A , Elano dos Santos Junior A , Janaine Almeida A , Marisa de Cássia Piccolo B , Álvaro Luiz Mafra C , Claudinei Kurtz D , Gustavo Brunetto E and Jucinei José Comin A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Itacorubi, Florianopolis, SC 88034000, Brazil.

B Universidade de São Paulo, Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura, Piracicaba, SP 13416970, Brazil.

C Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências Agroveterinárias, Lages, SC 88520000, Brazil.

D Empresa de Pesquisa Agropecuária e Extensão Rural de Santa Catarina, Ituporanga, SC 88400000, Brasil.

E Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Centro de Ciências Rurais, Camobi, Santa Maria, RS 97105900, Brasil.

F Corresponding author. Email: arcangelo.loss@ufsc.br

Soil Research 58(7) 622-635 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR19346
Submitted: 26 November 2019  Accepted: 17 June 2020   Published: 23 July 2020

Abstract

Use of soil cover crops of different families in crop rotation or succession under no-tillage system (NTS) for onion production results in higher soil quality compared to land use systems with less plant diversity. The objective was to evaluate the effect of using different combinations of plant species from different botanical families in rotation and succession of soil cover crops in NTS for onion production on formation of macroaggregates, mesoaggregates, and microaggregates, and on total organic C (TOC) and N (TN) contents, including isotopic forms of C and N, in soil aggregates and bulk soil. The treatments (T) evaluated were maize/onion (NTS-T1); cover plants (winter)/onion (NTS-T2); maize/winter grasses/onion (NTS-T3); velvet bean/onion (NTS-T4); millet/cover plants (winter)/onion (NTS-T5); velvet bean/rye/onion (NTS-T6); maize/onion in conventional tillage system (CTS-T7); and intercrop cover plants (summer)/onion (NTS-T8). We evaluated macroaggregates (8.0–0.25 mm), microaggregates (<0.25 mm), and bulk soil (<2.0 mm) at depths of 0–5, 5–10, and 10–20 cm, in a nine-year field experiment. The greater plant diversity in T2–T6 and T8 resulted in higher geometric mean diameter (GMD) of aggregates compared to T1 and T7. The T8 was more efficient in increasing GMD in the 10–20 cm soil depth than the other treatments. The T1 was more efficient in improving the evaluated soil physical and chemical attributes than T7. The use of NTS with plants of the Poaceae and Fabaceae families in single or intercrop systems for onion production resulted in higher TOC and TN contents in the 0–5 and 5–10 cm soil depths compared to CTS. Isotope 15N measurements showed that C and N were more protected in microaggregates in all evaluated treatments and depths compared to macroaggregates and bulk soil. Macroaggregates had more TOC and TN than microaggregates.

Additional keywords: conventional tillage system, macroaggregates and microaggregates, natural abundance of 15N, no-tillage system, onion production, soil cover plants.


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