Elsevier

Pedosphere

Volume 23, Issue 5, October 2013, Pages 696-704
Pedosphere

Soil Organic Carbon Stocks as Affected by Tillage Systems in a Double-Cropped Rice Field

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1002-0160(13)60062-4Get rights and content

Abstract

Tillage practices can potentially affect soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation in agricultural soils. A 4-year experiment was conducted to identify the influence of tillage practices on SOC sequestration in a double-cropped rice (Oryza sativa L.) field in Hunan Province of China. Three tillage treatments, no-till (NT), conventional plow tillage (PT), and rotary tillage (RT), were laid in a randomized complete block design. Concentrations of SOC and bulk density (BD) of the 0–80 cm soil layer were measured, and SOC stocks of the 0–20 and 0–80 cm soil layers were calculated on an equivalent soil mass (ESM) basis and fixed depth (FD) basis. Soil carbon budget (SCB) under different tillage systems were assessed on the basis of emissions of methane (CH4) and CO2 and the amount of carbon (C) removed by the rice harvest. After four years of experiment, the NT treatment sequestrated more SOC than the other treatments. The SOC stocks in the 0–80 cm layer under NT (on an ESM basis) was as high as 129.32 Mg C ha−1, significantly higher than those under PT and RT (P < 0.05). The order of SOC stocks in the 0–80 cm soil layer was NT > PT > RT, and the same order was observed for SCB; however, in the 0–20 cm soil layer, the RT treatment had a higher SOC stock than the PT treatment. Therefore, when comparing SOC stocks, only considering the top 20 cm of soil would lead to an incomplete evaluation for the tillage-induced effects on SOC stocks and SOC sequestrated in the subsoil layers should also be taken into consideration. The estimation of SOC stocks using the ESM instead of FD method would better reflect the actual changes in SOC stocks in the paddy filed, as the FD method amplified the tillage effects on SOC stocks. This study also indicated that NT plus straw retention on the soil surface was a viable option to increase SOC stocks in paddy soils.

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      This difference is likely the result of the combined effects of water management, straw return, and cultivation methods. Although NT is an important way to improve SOC in paddy fields (Xu et al., 2013a, 2013b; Li et al., 2011), the interaction effect of water regime and straw return methods may be greater in this study. The hypoxic environment caused by flooding can slow down the decomposition of SOC and reduce the loss of carbon pool; under oxygen-rich conditions, not only is the decomposition of SOC accelerated (Pampolino et al., 2008; Xu et al., 2017), but the decomposition of straw in the field is also accelerated, weakening the replenishment effect of straw returning to the carbon pool (Wang et al., 2015).

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      Soil depth was identified as another important influential factor. Different changes in SOC at different soil depths have been widely observed in many ecosystems, such as farmland, grassland and forest (Jackson et al., 2017; Jobbagy and Jackson, 2000; Xu et al., 2013). Our results clearly suggest that most changes in SOC occur in the surface 20-cm soil layer, which was the sampling depth in many studies on SOC (Bai et al., 2014; Zhang et al., 2006).

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    Supported by the Special Fund for Agro-Scientific Research in the Public Interest of China (Nos. 200903003 and 201103001).

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