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Soil, land care and environmental research
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Contrasting agricultural management effects on soil organic carbon dynamics between topsoil and subsoil

Yui Osanai https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6390-5382 A E , Oliver Knox B , Gunasekhar Nachimuthu C and Brian Wilson https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7983-0909 A D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Ecosystem Management, School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England,Armidale NSW 2351, Australia.

B Agronomy and Soil Science, School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England,Armidale NSW 2351, Australia.

C DPI Agriculture, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Locked bag 1000, Narrabri, NSW, Australia.

D NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, Armidale NSW 2351, Australia.

E Corresponding author. Email: yosanai@une.edu.au

Soil Research 59(1) 24-33 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR19379
Submitted: 12 December 2019  Accepted: 22 July 2020   Published: 21 August 2020

Abstract

Agricultural practices (e.g. tillage, crop rotation and fertiliser application) have a strong influence on the balance between carbon (C) input and output by altering physicochemical and microbial properties that control decomposition processes in the soil. Recent studies suggest that the mechanisms by which agricultural practice impacts soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics in the topsoil may not be the same as those in the subsoil. Here, we assessed SOC stock, soil organic fractions and nitrogen availability to 1.0 m in soils under a cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)-based cropping system, and assessed the impact of agricultural management (three historical cropping systems with or without maize (Zea mays L.) rotation) on SOC storage. We found that the maize rotation and changes in the particulate organic fraction influenced SOC stock in the topsoil, although the overall change in SOC stock was small. The large increase in subsoil SOC stock (by 31%) was dominated by changes in the mineral-associated organic fraction, which were influenced by historical cropping systems and recent maize rotation directly and indirectly via changes in soil nitrogen availability. The strong direct effect of maize rotation on SOC stock, particularly in the subsoil, suggests that the direct transfer of C into the subsoil SOC pool may dominate C dynamics in this cropping system. Therefore, agricultural management that affects the movement of C within the soil profile (e.g. changes in soil physical properties) could have a significant consequence for subsoil C storage.

Additional keywords: C : N ratio, crop rotation, soil fractions, soil organic matter, subsoil, tillage.


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