Persistent soil carbon enhanced in Mollisols by well-managed grasslands but not annual grain or dairy forage cropping systems.

ABSTRACT: Intensive crop production on grassland-derived Mollisols has liberated massive amounts of carbon (C) to the atmosphere. Whether minimizing soil disturbance, diversifying crop rotations, or re-establishing perennial grasslands and integrating livestock can slow or reverse this trend remains highly uncertain. We investigated how these management practices affected soil organic carbon (SOC) accrual and distribution between particulate (POM) and mineral-associated (MAOM) organic matter in a 29-y-old field experiment in the North Central United States and assessed how soil microbial traits were related to these changes. Compared to conventional continuous maize monocropping with annual tillage, systems with reduced tillage, diversified crop rotations with cover crops and legumes, or manure addi

SUBMITTER: Rui Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8851490 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature