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Improvement of soil aggregate-associated carbon sequestration capacity after 14 years of conservation tillage

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2022

Siyu Chen Open the ORCID record for Siyu Chen [Opens in a new window] ,
Yaqian Cao ,
Tingting Zhang ,
Jichao Cui ,
Liangliang Guo ,
Ying Shen ,
Pengchong Zhou ,
Huifang Han Open the ORCID record for Huifang Han [Opens in a new window]  and
Tangyuan Ning
Siyu Chen
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Key Laboratory of Crop Water Physiology and Drought Tolerance Germplasm Improvement of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Agronomy, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, P.R. China
Yaqian Cao
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Key Laboratory of Crop Water Physiology and Drought Tolerance Germplasm Improvement of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Agronomy, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, P.R. China
Tingting Zhang
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Key Laboratory of Crop Water Physiology and Drought Tolerance Germplasm Improvement of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Agronomy, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, P.R. China
Jichao Cui
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Key Laboratory of Crop Water Physiology and Drought Tolerance Germplasm Improvement of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Agronomy, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, P.R. China
Liangliang Guo
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Key Laboratory of Crop Water Physiology and Drought Tolerance Germplasm Improvement of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Agronomy, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, P.R. China
Ying Shen
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Key Laboratory of Crop Water Physiology and Drought Tolerance Germplasm Improvement of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Agronomy, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, P.R. China
Pengchong Zhou
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Key Laboratory of Crop Water Physiology and Drought Tolerance Germplasm Improvement of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Agronomy, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, P.R. China
Huifang Han*
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Key Laboratory of Crop Water Physiology and Drought Tolerance Germplasm Improvement of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Agronomy, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, P.R. China
Tangyuan Ning
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Key Laboratory of Crop Water Physiology and Drought Tolerance Germplasm Improvement of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Agronomy, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, P.R. China
*
*Corresponding author. Email: hfhan75@163.com
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Summary

The North China Plain is an important summer maize/winter wheat rotation area. However, over the years, continued intensive tillage has destroyed the soil aggregate accelerating the mineralization and decomposition of soil organic carbon (SOC), which plays an important role in soil quality, as increased organic carbon storage improves soil fertility and crop yields. Thus, the objective of this study was to explore the comprehensive impact of tillage methods on soil aggregates, aggregate-associated SOC, and carbon sequestration capacity under a regime of straw return. In 2002, we started a 14-year long-term tillage experiment; then in 2016–2017, we tested the following tillage methods, zero tillage (ZT), rotary tillage (RT), subsoiling (SS), and conventional tillage (CT). The results showed that in the 0–10 cm soil layer, tillage methods significantly reduced the proportion of aggregates in the order of 2–0.25 > 5–2 > 0.25–0.053 mm. Additionally, conservation tillage (i.e., SS and ZT) significantly increased the percentage of macroaggregates (0–40 cm) and their SOC content, compared to CT. Additionally, the contribution rate of macroaggregates to SOC was 17.2% and 30.6% higher under SS and ZT than under CT, respectively. Conservation tillage methods improved the carbon sequestration capacity of soil aggregates. Our study provides a theoretical basis for the development of more suitable tillage methods. Furthermore, long-term conservation tillage seemingly protected large aggregates and, SOC, whereby carbon sequestration was enhanced and soil carbon emissions were effectively reduced.

Keywords

TillageConservationZero tillageAggregateSoil carbon capacity
Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 58 , 2022 , e55
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© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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