Can cover crops improve soil ecosystem services in water‐limited environments? A review

Abstract

Cover crops (CCs) are considered to deliver multiple soil ecosystem services, but such potential could vary by climatic region. This leads to the question: can CCs improve soil ecosystem services in low precipitation regions? To answer this, we reviewed published data up to 27 July 2021 regarding CC impacts on CC biomass production, soil organic C (SOC) accumulation, water and wind erosion, soil water, nitrate leaching potential, soil microbial biomass, weed management, crop yields, and livestock production (i.e., CCs as forage) across regions with <500 mm precipitation. Literature indicates that CCs produce 2.37 ± 2.30 Mg ha −1 of aboveground biomass, but belowground biomass data are unavailable. Cover crops increased soil wet aggregate stability (63% of CC vs. no CC comparisons), suggesting reduced water erosion potential with CCs. Also, CCs reduced nitrate leaching potential (74% of comparisons) and soil water (50%), increased soil microbial biomass (73%), and did not affect dry aggregate stability (67%) and crop yields (56%). Cover crops accumulated SOC in 59% of comparisons. Averaged across all comparisons, CCs accumulated 0.43 Mg SOC ha −1 yr −1 in the upper 30-cm depth. This SOC accumulation rate is within the range of SOC accumulation across all regions in previous reviews. Cover crops can reduce weed biomass by 89%. Also, when hayed or grazed, CCs could provide net economic returns without negating soil benefits. Overall, CCs improve most soil ecosystem services without many detrimental effects on crop yields in waterlimited environments, although more long-term (>10 yr) data are needed for definitive conclusions. INTRODUCTIONCover crops (CCs) are considered a reemerging strategy to enhance ecosystem services from agricultural lands (

Crop rotation influences yield more than soil quality at a semiarid location

“…Crop intensification can be achieved through the use of cover crops. A recent summary of cover crop research where the mean annual precipitation was <500 mm (Blanco‐Canqui et al., 2021) indicated that including cover crops provided many environmental benefits such as increased SOC, reduced water and wind erosion, lower nitrate leaching potential, and increased soil microbial biomass. Blanco‐Canqui et al.…”

“…A recent summary of cover crop research where the mean annual precipitation was <500 mm (Blanco-Canqui et al, 2021) indicated that including cover crops provided many environmental benefits such as increased SOC, reduced water and wind erosion, lower nitrate leaching potential, and increased soil microbial biomass. Blanco-Canqui et al (2021) concluded that the addition of cover crops did not always result in reduced grain yield of the following crop, although timely termination of cover crops was critical for retaining soil water.…”

“…Blanco‐Canqui et al. (2021) concluded that the addition of cover crops did not always result in reduced grain yield of the following crop, although timely termination of cover crops was critical for retaining soil water.…”

In Silico Evaluation of Plant Nitrification Suppression Effects on Agroecosystem Nitrogen Loss

“…Management strategies targeted at retaining N in the non-growing season may be more effective for reducing annual N losses from agroecosystems in climates such as the rainfed Midwest where spring thaw and fall precipitation drive a large proportion of annual NO 3 - leaching. For example, incorporating winter cover crops into annual rotations eliminates the spring fallow period and is an effective strategy for limiting spring N losses (Di and Cameron 2002a, Jewett and Thelen 2007, Blanco-Canqui et al 2021). Since bioenergy and biomass sorghum crops are harvested for aboveground biomass rather than grain yield, farmers have more flexibility in the timing of harvest and cover crop planting in the late summer or early fall when sorghum biomass begins to plateau (Schetter et al 2021).…”

Effects of Agri-Environment Schemes in Terms of the Results for Soil, Water and Soil Organic Matter in Central and Eastern Europe

“…Soil water is therefore the basic aggregate for a functioning land system. For example, soil water determines terrestrial carbon stocks [5], notwithstanding the carbon stock of Central and Eastern Europe [1], thereby affecting changes in the role of organic matter within carbon storage. In this way, soil water affects ecosystem services wherewith crops co-exist with soil carbon [6]; in doing so, soil water affects how crops influence soil carbon storage in topographically diverse terrains.…”