Soil organic carbon, aggregation and fungi community after 44 years of no-till and cropping systems in the Central Great Plains, USA

• Published in: Archives of microbiology Vol. 205; no. 3; p. 84
• Main Authors: Lin, James S., Sarto, Marcos V. M., Carter, Tiffany L., Peterson, Dallas E., Gura, Colleen, Mino, Laura, Rohrs, Megan, Lucas, Hallie, Clark, Jamie, Rice, Charles W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-03-2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agglomeration; Agricultural land; Agricultural practices; Agriculture; Biochemistry; Biomass; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biotechnology; Carbon; Carbon - chemistry; Carbon content; Cell Biology; Community composition; Conservation tillage; Crop rotation; Cropping systems; Ecology; Fatty acids; Fungi; Glycine max; Land management; Life Sciences; Microbial Ecology; Microbiology; Microorganisms; Moisture content; Monoculture; No-till cropping; Organic carbon; Organic soils; Original Paper; Phospholipids; Soil - chemistry; Soil conservation; Soil depth; Soil microorganisms; Soil profiles; Soil properties; Soil quality; Soil structure; Soil water; Soybeans; Stratification; Sustainable agriculture; Tillage; Triticum; Triticum aestivum; Water; Water content; Wheat; Winter wheat; United States > US; Great Plains; Crop diversification; PLFA; Tillage; Soil health; Monoculture
• ISSN: 0302-8933; 1432-072X
• DOI: 10.1007/s00203-023-03421-2

Implementing sustainable agricultural land management practices such as no-till (NT) and diversified crops are important for maintaining soil health properties. This study focuses on the soil health of three long-term (44 years) tillage systems, NT, reduced tillage (RT), and conventional tillage (CT), in monoculture winter wheat–fallow (W-F) (
Triticum aestivum
L.) and wheat–soybean (W-S) (
Glycine max
(L.)
Merrill
) rotation. Soil organic carbon (C) was higher in NT than CT in the surface 0–5 cm, but not different in the 5–15 cm, demonstrating SOC stratification on the soil profile. The soil water content was higher in NT followed by RT and CT in the top 0–5 cm. We found an association between increased carbon, aggregation, and AMF biomass. Greater soil aggregation, carbon and AMF were observed in NT at 0–5 cm soil depth. The W-S cropping system had greater soil microbial community composition based on fungi biomass, AMF and fungal to bacteria ratio from phospholipid fatty acid analysis (PLFA). Large macroaggregates were positively correlated with total C and N, microbial biomass, Gram + , and AMF. Soil water content was positively correlated with macroaggregates, total C and N, and AC. No-till increased soil carbon content even after 44 years of cultivation. By implementing conservation tillage systems and diversified crop rotation, soil quality can be improved through greater soil organic C, water content, greater soil structure, and higher AMF biomass than CT practice in the Central Great Plains.