Mineral–organic associations are enriched in both microbial metabolites and plant residues in a subtropical soil profile under no-tillage and legume cover cropping
M. G. Veloso
A * , D. A. Angers B , M. H. Chantigny B and C. Bayer C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Institut Polytechnique UniLaSalle, Unité Aghyle, Campus Rouen, 76130 Mont-Saint-Aignan, Normandie, France.
B Quebec Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2560 Hochelaga Boulevard, Québec, QC G1V 2J3, Canada.
C Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Department of Soil Sciences, 7712 Bento Gonçalves Avenue, CEP 91540-000, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Soil Research 60(6) 590-600 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR21151
Submitted: 8 June 2021 Accepted: 1 April 2022 Published: 27 May 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing
Abstract
Context: Knowledge of the impacts of no-tillage and cover cropping on carbon accumulation and stabilisation in highly weathered agricultural soils of subtropical regions is scant. We hypothesised that implementation of no-tillage coupled with high-quality legume residues in highly weathered agricultural soils would result in high carbon accumulation rates, mainly as microbe- and plant-derived materials in fine mineral–organic complexes.
Aims and methods: We sampled soil profiles down to 100 cm in a long-term field experiment and used density and particle size fractionation in combination with carbohydrate analyses to compare the effect of conventional tillage vs no-tillage, combined or not with legume cover cropping, and combined or not with mineral nitrogen fertilisation.
Key results: Both no-tillage and legume cover crops favoured the accumulation and enrichment in plant-derived carbohydrates in the surface soil layer, due to the accumulation of plant residues. The ratio of microbe- to plant-derived carbohydrates increased with soil depth indicating that the soil carbon (C) was more microbially processed than at the surface. Conservation management systems also increased soil C at depth and this was most visible in the clay fraction. The additional clay-size C accumulating at depth under conservation treatments was of both microbial and plant origin.
Conclusions: Our results support the hypothesis that mineral-associated C is composed of both plant and microbial residues and is positively influenced by conservation management practices.
Implications: Our results demonstrate that no-till and legume cover cropping are efficient practises to foster C accumulation and stabilisation in heavily weathered agricultural soil profiles in a subtropical climate.
Keywords: cover crops, legumes, microbial residues, no-till, organo-mineral associations, plant residues, soil carbohydrates, soil management, soil organic carbon accumulation.
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