Effects of cover crop systems on soil physical properties and carbon/nitrogen relationships in the coastal plain of southeastern USA

Hubbard, R. K.; Strickland, Timothy C.; Phatak, S. C.

doi:10.1016/j.still.2012.07.009

Cited by 127 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 30 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This was not directly translated into significant increase of soil organic C content, but this experiment lasted only three years. Differences in soil C after only three years have however been observed in the study of Hubbard et al (2013). In contrast, differences were observed for total soil nitrogen in the minimum tillage treatments, with higher values in the field pea compared to the control treatment.…”

Section: Consequences For Soil Fertilitymentioning

confidence: 75%

Importance of cover crops in alleviating negative effects of reduced soil tillage and promoting soil fertility in a winter wheat cropping system

Büchi

Wendling

Amossé

et al. 2018

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A B S T R A C TReduction of soil tillage is of paramount importance for agricultural soil preservation. However, it is often accompanied by yield reduction and weed management problems. In this perspective, cover crops could play an important role to alleviate weed infestation and sustain yield. In this study, the results from a three-year experiment of cover crop cultivation in different soil tillage treatments is presented, together with results from DayCent simulations on the long term evolution of soil organic carbon and total nitrogen. Eight cover crop treatments were set up as subtreatments in a long term experiment in Switzerland. Cover crops were cultivated for a short two-month period between two winter wheats. Substantial differences in cover crop growth were observed depending on cover crop species. In all tillage treatments, high cover crop biomass production allowed to supress weed biomass compared to the no cover crop control. Wheat grain yield was higher in the minimum tillage than in the plough treatment. In the no till treatment, wheat yield was notably low, except in the field pea treatments, where wheat yield reached values similar to that observed in the plough and minimum tillage treatments. In addition, these differences in biomass production translated into important differences in nutrient inputs, and even in soil nutrient concentration in some cases. Long term simulations showed that cover crop cultivation could increase drastically soil organic carbon and total nitrogen, especially in reduced tillage treatments. Altogether, these results demonstrated that the presence of a well-developed cover crop, even for only two months, allows to sustain wheat yield in a no till treatment. It impacts also soil fertility and nutrient cycling. This study shows that an accurate use and management of cover crops, in interaction with tillage reduction, could maintain yield and improve soil fertility in the long term.

show abstract

Section: Consequences For Soil Fertilitymentioning

confidence: 75%

Importance of cover crops in alleviating negative effects of reduced soil tillage and promoting soil fertility in a winter wheat cropping system

Büchi

Wendling

Amossé

et al. 2018

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It has been estimated that the use of conservation tillage will increase 40% by 2020 compared to 1995 (Lal 2001). This is a positive trend since conventional tillage is a practice that impacts soil structure and modifies soil pore distribution leading to significant soil, air, and water relationship changes (Hubbard et al 2013). Practices such as no-tillage, strip tillage, deep rip, or chisel plow have proved to sequester more carbon (C) and emit less carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) compared to moldboard under CS rotation (Al-Kaisi and Yin 2005).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Crop rotation effect on selected physical and chemical properties of Wisconsin soils

Kazula¹,

Lauer²,

Arriaga³

2017

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:In response to climate change, there is a need to adopt more resilient cropping systems for increased productivity. In this study, three corn (Zea mays L.)-based rotationscontinuous corn (CC), corn-soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.; CS), and corn-soybean-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.; CSW), where all residues were retained on the field after harvest-were selected to study their effects on soil properties at three managed sites in WisconsinArlington, Lancaster, and Marshfield. Soil core samples were collected at four depths (0 to 10, 10 to 20, 20 to 40, and 40 to 60 cm) in 2011. In 2013 and 2015, soil core samples were collected at the two top depths. Soil water retention (WR), plant available water (PAW), bulk density (BD), soil carbon (C), soil nitrogen (N), and C/N ratio were evaluated. Water retention was determined from 0 to 10 and 10 to 20 cm depths at five different matric potentials (Ψ = 0, −5, −10, −33, and −1,500 kPa). There was a significant location × depth interaction across soil properties, which could be associated with differences in management among locations. Averaged across location, CC and CSW rotations had greater water content and PAW across WR tensions than CS rotation at 0 to 10 cm depth, while no differences existed at 10 to 20 cm depth. Crop rotations had similar BD across locations and depths (1.37 to 1.41 g cm -3). A significant three-way location × depth × rotation interaction for C and N amount was affected with generally higher C and N amount in CSW rotation at Lancaster and smaller differences among crop rotations at Arlington and Marshfield. Observed low soil C/N ratio values (<11) indicated potential for soil organic matter to provide some N to the crop. Results from this study indicate that long-term CC systems had similar soil properties to those found in the CS and CSW rotations, and differences among locations were attributed to the differences in management and the environments. However, there is a potential for higher WR under CSW rotation, which might be important under variable climatic conditions.

show abstract

“…This increased biomass contributed to improvement in soil structure and fertility (Hubbard et al, 2013). In a planting date study at Wisconsin, a maximum biomass of 5.7 to 7.4 t ha -1 was obtained (Stute, 2017).…”

Section: Biomass Nmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sunn Hemp: A Legume Cover Crop with Potential for the Midwest?

Durairaj¹,

Stute²

2018

SAR

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Crops like corn and soybean occupy vast area in the Midwest, USA. When land is left fallow after the harvest of these crops, a number of degradation factors operate and bring about soil erosion, nutrient loss, decreased soil organic carbon, reduced biological activity and increase in weed biomass. Integrating cover crops (CCs) into this system would build benefits that the very system lacks. There are various CCs available, but leguminous CCs allows for reduced application of fertilizer nitrogen and builds the soil fixed atmospheric nitrogen. Winter CCs are restricted in the Midwest because of the short planting window which greatly minimizes the biomass accumulation. Warm season CCs would serve well here. Sunn hemp is one such tropical CC that grows well in temperate conditions too, without producing seeds. It comes with many benefits -including decreased soil erosion, improved soil organic carbon, increase in soil fixed nitrogen, higher biomass that adds organic matter and N to the soil, reduced weed density and weed biomass. The timing and method of termination influences the residue management. Going by the benefits it adds, sunn hemp is a viable warm season CC that can be grown in the Midwest and has great potential in fallows, prevented plant acres, areas of crop failure (planted and failed) and also in areas after the harvest of the short season small grains or processing crops. However, intensive research on sunn hemp is needed in the Midwest which is discussed.

show abstract

Effects of cover crop systems on soil physical properties and carbon/nitrogen relationships in the coastal plain of southeastern USA

Cited by 127 publications

References 30 publications

Importance of cover crops in alleviating negative effects of reduced soil tillage and promoting soil fertility in a winter wheat cropping system

Importance of cover crops in alleviating negative effects of reduced soil tillage and promoting soil fertility in a winter wheat cropping system

Crop rotation effect on selected physical and chemical properties of Wisconsin soils

Sunn Hemp: A Legume Cover Crop with Potential for the Midwest?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About