[en] Conservation tillage improves soil organic carbon (SOC) management by balancing microbial decomposition and physico-chemical protection. Minerals stabilize SOC, but how tillage practices affect calcium (Ca) speciation and its role in microbial-mineral-organic matter interactions in calcareous soils remains unclear. Thus, a 22-year tillage experiment and soil incubation were conducted to investigate Ca-mediated SOC sequestration and mineralization. Conservation tillage, including no-tillage with straw mulch (NTS) and subsoil tillage with straw mulch (STS), increased SOC storage by 9.9-14.3 % at 0-20 cm soil depth by promoting organo-Ca associations, compared to conventional tillage without straw return (CTN) and reduced tillage without straw return (RTN). Moreover, NTS and STS increased aggregate stability and macroaggregate proportion, reducing total SOC mineralization, as macroaggregates had lower SOC mineralization than microaggregates. In aggregates, increased exchangeable Ca was linked to higher particle- and mineral-associated SOC and lower SOC mineralization, showing positive (p < 0.01) and negative (p < 0.001) relationships, respectively. Compared to CTN and RTN, long-term NTS and STS not only promoted the transformation of CaCO3 to exchangeable Ca, but also increased microbial biomass, especially the proportion of Gram-negative and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Mechanistically, higher Ca2+ reshaped bacterial communities and promoted the microbial by-product binding to the minerals to form stable organo-Ca complexes, which was supported by the positive correlations between Ca2+, microbial composition and SOC content (PLS-PM, p < 0.01). Overall, conservation tillage increased Ca availability for carbon binding by mediating microbial structures, thereby promoting aggregate protection and SOC stability in Calcaric Cambisols.
Disciplines :
Agriculture & agronomy
Author, co-author :
Han, Zixuan ; Université de Liège - ULiège > TERRA Research Centre
Li, Shengping; State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-arid Arable Land in Northern China (the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China. Electronic address: lishengping@caas.cn
Degré, Aurore ; Université de Liège - ULiège > TERRA Research Centre > Echanges Eau - Sol - Plantes
Gao, Huizhou; State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-arid Arable Land in Northern China (the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China. Electronic address: 82101201111@caas.cn
Zheng, Fengjun; College of Resources and Environment, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China. Electronic address: zfengjunhn@163.com
Song, Xiaojun; State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-arid Arable Land in Northern China (the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China. Electronic address: sxj15117957377@163.com
Jia, Angyuan; State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-arid Arable Land in Northern China (the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China. Electronic address: angyuanjia96@126.com
Wu, Xueping ; State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-arid Arable Land in Northern China (the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China. Electronic address: wuxueping@caas.cn
Language :
English
Title :
Conservation tillage and wheat straw managements improve soil organic carbon sequestration via calcium-mediated microbial communities and aggregate stability in Calcaric Cambisols.
This work was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China ( 2023YFD1500301 ) and the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program ( ASTIP No. CAAS-ZDRW202407 ). The authors thank Dr. Huijun Wu and workers at the station of Luoyang Field Scientific Observation and Experiment Station for their help maintaining the experiments.
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