Lessons Learnt from Long-term No-till Systems Regarding Soil Management in Humid Tropical and Subtropical Regions

Author(s):  
Cimélio Bayer ◽  
Jeferson Dieckow
Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1036
Author(s):  
Sauro Simoni ◽  
Giovanni Caruso ◽  
Nadia Vignozzi ◽  
Riccardo Gucci ◽  
Giuseppe Valboa ◽  
...  

Edaphic arthropod communities provide valuable information about the prevailing status of soil quality to improve the functionality and long-term sustainability of soil management. The study aimed at evaluating the effect of plant and grass cover on the functional biodiversity and soil characteristics in a mature olive orchard (Olea europaea L.) managed for ten years by two conservation soil managements: natural grass cover (NC) and conservation tillage (CT). The trees under CT grew and yielded more than those under NC during the period of increasing yields (years 4–7) but not when they reached full production. Soil management did not affect the tree root density. Collecting samples underneath the canopy (UC) and in the inter-row space (IR), the edaphic environment was characterized by soil structure, hydrological properties, the concentration and storage of soil organic carbon pools and the distribution of microarthropod communities. The soil organic carbon pools (total and humified) were negatively affected by minimum tillage in IR, but not UC, without a loss in fruit and oil yield. The assemblages of microarthropods benefited, firstly, from the grass cover, secondly, from the canopy effect, and thirdly, from a soil structure ensuring a high air capacity and water storage. Feeding functional groups—hemiedaphic macrosaprophages, polyphages and predators—resulted in selecting the ecotonal microenvironment between the surface and edaphic habitat.


Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 650
Author(s):  
Jesús Aguilera-Huertas ◽  
Beatriz Lozano-García ◽  
Manuel González-Rosado ◽  
Luis Parras-Alcántara

The short- and medium—long-term effects of management and hillside position on soil organic carbon (SOC) changes were studied in a centenary Mediterranean rainfed olive grove. One way to measure these changes is to analyze the soil quality, as it assesses soil degradation degree and attempts to identify management practices for sustainable soil use. In this context, the SOC stratification index (SR-COS) is one of the best indicators of soil quality to assess the degradation degree from SOC content without analyzing other soil properties. The SR-SOC was calculated in soil profiles (horizon-by-horizon) to identify the best soil management practices for sustainable use. The following time periods and soil management combinations were tested: (i) in the medium‒long-term (17 years) from conventional tillage (CT) to no-tillage (NT), (ii) in the short-term (2 years) from CT to no-tillage with cover crops (NT-CC), and (iii) the effect in the short-term (from CT to NT-CC) of different topographic positions along a hillside. The results indicate that the SR-SOC increased with depth for all management practices. The SR-SOC ranged from 1.21 to 1.73 in CT0, from 1.48 to 3.01 in CT1, from 1.15 to 2.48 in CT2, from 1.22 to 2.39 in NT-CC and from 0.98 to 4.16 in NT; therefore, the soil quality from the SR-SOC index was not directly linked to the increase or loss of SOC along the soil profile. This demonstrates the time-variability of SR-SOC and that NT improves soil quality in the long-term.


2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 156-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew D. Warnock ◽  
Singarayer K. Florentine ◽  
F. Patrick Graz ◽  
Martin E. Westbrooke
Keyword(s):  

2016 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 347-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elwin G. Smith ◽  
H. Henry Janzen ◽  
Lauren Scherloski ◽  
Francis J. Larney ◽  
Benjamin H. Ellert

After 47 yr of no-till and reduced summerfallow at Lethbridge, Alberta, soil organic carbon concentration and stocks increased 2.14 g kg−1 and 2.22 Mg ha−1, respectively, in the surface 7.5 cm layer. These findings confirmed the conservation value of reducing tillage and summerfallow. The annual changes were relatively small.


2022 ◽  
Vol 172 ◽  
pp. 104339
Author(s):  
Eliane Cristina Gruszka Vendruscolo ◽  
Dany Mesa ◽  
Emanuel Maltempi de Souza

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