Cropping systems with higher organic carbon promote soil microbial diversity

Esmaeilzadeh-Salestani, Keyvan; Bahram, Mohammad; Seraj, Rahele Ghanbari Moheb; Gohar, Daniyal; Tohidfar, Masoud; Eremeev, Viacheslav; Khaleghdoust, Banafsheh; Mirmajlessi, Seyed Mahyar; Talgre, Liina; Loit, Evelin

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2021.107521

Cited by 38 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…Organic farmers were systematically more pleased with their experiences with clovers as CCs, and none of them disagreed that clovers contributed to an increase in SOC, soil microbiome, and earthworm populations (Figure 6). Their experiences are consistent with long-term experiments in Estonia [14,22] and Denmark [13]. Foereid and Høgh-Jensen [23] simulated highest increase in SOC when clover and grass were mixed as CC.…”

Section: Ccs Promote Soil Health Though Provide Extensive Soil Cover ...supporting

confidence: 83%

“…Organic farmers were in turn more experienced with a wider range of cash crops including winter rye, grain legumes, and cereal intercrops, but these cash crops were not combined in the same way for all the CCgroups (Figure 3). Readiness of organic farmers for diversify main crops is comparable to findings from other Nordic crop rotation studies involving CCs [12][13][14]. These findings are not only attributable to more monotonous land use in conventional than organic farms [15] but emphasize that conventional farmers are likely to aim for benefits provided by CCs especially in the case of monotonous cereal sequencing [16].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 69%

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Farmers’ Experiences of How Under-Sown Clovers, Ryegrasses, and Timothy Perform in Northern European Crop Production Systems

et al. 2022

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Early adopter-farmers form a living lab of farms that have a great deal of hidden knowledge about the cultivation of cover crops (CCs). Understanding of how early adopters use and value CCs provides valuable knowhow to be shared with other farmers. This study gathered information about the most common under-sown CCs in Finland. A structured survey was used to collect farmers’ experiences considering CCs’ regional suitability, growth, competition, and impacts on soil and cash crop yields. The respondents were both conventional and organic farmers who cultivated CCs in 2020. One thousand one hundred and thirty farmers answered the survey. Four hundred and ten times they shared knowhow about the use of under-sown CCs. They were mostly familiar with clovers, ryegrasses, and timothy as CCs. They answered 27 specific statements on CC (a Likert scale, five answer choices). Farmers’ experiences were well in line with the understanding gained from field experiments. Farmers had experienced positive impacts of CCs on soil health. Organic farmers were slightly more positive than conventional farmers. This is attributable to a longer period of having CCs in organic farms, and general differences in means to control weeds and manage crop nutrition. Gained experience with common species used in grassland mixtures had strengthened farmers’ trust in their use of CCs. Farmers having high cereal areas are an important target group for sharing the early adopters’ experiences, as cereal farmers were more challenged to use even common CCs. Future research and on-farm experiments should focus on CCs with other cash crops instead of cereals (grain legumes, rapeseed, and other minor crops).

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Section: Ccs Promote Soil Health Though Provide Extensive Soil Cover ...supporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 69%

Farmers’ Experiences of How Under-Sown Clovers, Ryegrasses, and Timothy Perform in Northern European Crop Production Systems

et al. 2022

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“…The amount of C input in the cover cropping system (O-CC) was similar to the C input formed in conventional systems using mineral N fertilizers (3.78 vs. 3.76-3.84 Mg ha −1 y −1 , respectively) (Table 4), but the SOC sequestration rate in O-CC was higher because there was no effect of mineral N fertilizer on the decomposition of SOM. However, the higher microbial activity found by Kuht et al [72] and Eremeev et al [73] and higher microbial diversity found by Esmaeilzadeh-Salestani et al [74] in the organic systems at the same study site presented here had a positive effect on the SOC sequestration rate. Cover cropping also promotes increased microbial activity [75].…”

Section: Soc Stock Change During 2008−2018supporting

confidence: 42%

Soil Particulate and Mineral-Associated Organic Matter Increases in Organic Farming under Cover Cropping and Manure Addition

et al. 2021

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This study aimed to investigate the soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration rate and soil organic matter (SOM) composition in conventional rotational cropping with mineral fertilization compared with organic cover cropping with and without composted manure addition during 2008–2018 to specify the SOM stabilization under different farming systems. The SOC proportion in particulate organic matter (POM) (63–2000 µm) and mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM) (<63 µm) fractions were estimated in different treatments, and the SOM composition in the fractions was characterized by FTIR spectroscopy. The SOC sequestration rate was treatment-dependent, with the higher SOC sequestration rate (1.26 Mg ha−1 y−1) in the organic treatment with cover crop and composted manure. Across all treatments, 57.3%–77.8% of the SOC stock was in the MAOM fraction. Mineral N fertilization increased POM-C concentration by 19%–52% compared with the unfertilized control. Under the organic treatments, the POM-C concentration was 83%–95% higher than the control. The MAOM-C concentration increased by 8%–20%. The mineral N fertilization and organic treatments (with and without cover crops and composted manure) increased the SOC stock proportion of POM. The highest proportion of SOC stock related to POM was in the cover cropping system, reducing the proportion of C related to the MAOM fraction, but the addition of composted manure with cover cropping also increased the proportion of C in MAOM. Compared with MAOM, the POM had a less resistant organic matter composition, and the POM resistance was higher in organic than conventional treatments. In general, the recalcitrance of SOM increased with SOC concentration. The POM fraction had higher aromaticity (or degree of decomposition) than the MAOM fraction. The aromaticity in POM and MAOM fractions was higher in the organic farming system and depended on mineral N fertilization and cover cropping, but the effect of manure was not significant. Although the SOC sequestration rate was higher under manure addition, resulting in the highest formation of both POM and MAOM in the soil, manure addition had little effect on overall SOM composition compared with cover crops.

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“…This shows a low organic content in CON 0, where organic matter yields are lower than in fertilized systems [30], and the negative effects of chemical pesticides on the soil microorganisms. To avoid the negative effects on soil health, Esmaeilzadeh-Salestani et al [31] found that conventional cropping with a small to average amount of mineral fertilizer seems to eliminate the negative effect of pesticides; in addition, long and diverse crop rotations are important for microbial functional stabilization.…”

Section: Changes In Soil Microbial Hydrolytic Activity During the Stu...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Soils with higher organic matter and cover crops do not freeze to as great a depth in cold periods, and at the beginning of the season, they warm up faster and thus microbiological activities start sooner. This is related to the higher C content of organically managed soils [31,35], which also improves the water-holding capacity of these soils.…”

Section: Changes In Soil Microbial Hydrolytic Activity During the Stu...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil Microbial Activity in Different Cropping Systems under Long-Term Crop Rotation

et al. 2022

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Soil microbes play a key role in the nutrient cycling by decomposing the organic material into plant-available elements and also by maintaining the soil health. The study of soil microbial hydrolytic activity (SMA) was carried out in a long-term crop rotation (barley undersown (us) with red clover, red clover, winter wheat, pea and potato) experiment in five different farming systems during 2014–2018. There were two conventional systems, with chemical plant protection and mineral fertilizers, and three organic systems, which included winter cover crops and composted manure. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of the (i) cropping system and (ii) precrops in rotation on the soil SMA. The soil microbial hydrolytic activity was significantly affected by yearly weather conditions, farming system, and crops. In all farming systems, the SMA was the lowest after dry and cold conditions during early spring in 2018. In unfertilized conventional systems, the considerably lower SMA is explained by the side effects of pesticides and low organic residuals, and we can conclude that the conventional system with no added fertilizer or organic matter is not sustainable, considering soil health. In each year, the SMA of organic systems with cover crops and composted manure was 7.3–14.0% higher compared to all farming systems. On average, for both farming systems, the SMA of all the rotation crops was positively correlated with the SMA values of precrops. However, in conventional farming systems, the effect of undersowing on the SMA of the precrop was smaller compared to organic systems.

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Cropping systems with higher organic carbon promote soil microbial diversity

Cited by 38 publications

References 72 publications

Farmers’ Experiences of How Under-Sown Clovers, Ryegrasses, and Timothy Perform in Northern European Crop Production Systems

Farmers’ Experiences of How Under-Sown Clovers, Ryegrasses, and Timothy Perform in Northern European Crop Production Systems

Soil Particulate and Mineral-Associated Organic Matter Increases in Organic Farming under Cover Cropping and Manure Addition

Soil Microbial Activity in Different Cropping Systems under Long-Term Crop Rotation

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