Inorganic Nutrients Increase Humification Efficiency and C-Sequestration in an Annually Cropped Soil.

ABSTRACT: Removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and storing the carbon (C) in resistant soil organic matter (SOM) is a global priority to restore soil fertility and help mitigate climate change. Although it is widely assumed that retaining rather than removing or burning crop residues will increase SOM levels, many studies have failed to demonstrate this. We hypothesised that the microbial nature of resistant SOM provides a predictable nutrient stoichiometry (C:nitrogen, C:phosphorus and C:sulphur-C:N:P:S) to target using supplementary nutrients when incorporating C-rich crop residues into soil. An improvement in the humification efficiency of the soil microbiome as a whole, and thereby C-sequestration, was predicted. In a field study over 5 years, soil organic-C (SOC) stocks to 1.6 m so

SUBMITTER: Kirkby CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4856260 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature