Long-term effects of cover crops on soil carbon forms and stocks in no-till corn-soybean rotations in midwest USA

Soil security Pub Date : 2026-03-01 Epub Date: 2026-02-20 DOI:10.1016/j.soisec.2026.100230

R. Tharindu Rambadagalla , Morgan P. Davis , Gurbir Singh , Timothy Reinbott , Biyensa Gurmessa , Ranjith P. Udawatta

{"title":"Long-term effects of cover crops on soil carbon forms and stocks in no-till corn-soybean rotations in midwest USA","authors":"R. Tharindu Rambadagalla , Morgan P. Davis , Gurbir Singh , Timothy Reinbott , Biyensa Gurmessa , Ranjith P. Udawatta","doi":"10.1016/j.soisec.2026.100230","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Anthropogenic activities have disrupted the natural carbon (C) balance, contributing to global climate change. Cover crops facilitate C sequestration, but their long-term impacts and deep soil C storage in Missouri remain unexplored. This study examined soil C forms to 100 cm depth under cover crop management in corn [<em>Zea mays</em> (L.)] - soybean [<em>Glycine max</em> (L.) Merr.] rotations. Soil from 5- and 10-year-old cover crop fields in Missouri were sampled to 100 cm depth under no-till cover crop (CC) and no-till no-cover crop (NCC) treatments, and analyzed for soil organic carbon (SOC), potentially mineralizable carbon (PMC), and permanganate oxidizable carbon (POXC). Cover crops increased SOC% and stocks in both fields, with the greatest concentration at 0–5 cm depth. Cumulative SOC stocks for 0–60 cm depth under CC were 10.3% greater in 10-year-old field and 1.63% greater in 5-year-old field than NCC. Interestingly, the 10-year-old field showed strong indicatations of stable C formation. Significantly greater POXC values under CC were observed at 0–5 cm and 45–60 cm depth than NCC in 5-year-old site. Additionally, PMC values were numerically greater under CC at 0–5 cm depth than NCC in both sites. Increased labile C (POXC and PMC) near the surface, suggests enhanced microbial activity and C mineralization. Greater parameter changes were notable in shallow depth (0–45 cm) but less pronounced at deeper depths (45–100 cm). These findings highlighted that long-term cover crop adoption can meaningfully enhance soil C storage in Missouri, including in sub-soils, providing valuable information for C accounting and the system's contribution to climate change mitigation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74839,"journal":{"name":"Soil security","volume":"22 ","pages":"Article 100230"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Soil security","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667006226000079","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/2/20 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Anthropogenic activities have disrupted the natural carbon (C) balance, contributing to global climate change. Cover crops facilitate C sequestration, but their long-term impacts and deep soil C storage in Missouri remain unexplored. This study examined soil C forms to 100 cm depth under cover crop management in corn [Zea mays (L.)] - soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotations. Soil from 5- and 10-year-old cover crop fields in Missouri were sampled to 100 cm depth under no-till cover crop (CC) and no-till no-cover crop (NCC) treatments, and analyzed for soil organic carbon (SOC), potentially mineralizable carbon (PMC), and permanganate oxidizable carbon (POXC). Cover crops increased SOC% and stocks in both fields, with the greatest concentration at 0–5 cm depth. Cumulative SOC stocks for 0–60 cm depth under CC were 10.3% greater in 10-year-old field and 1.63% greater in 5-year-old field than NCC. Interestingly, the 10-year-old field showed strong indicatations of stable C formation. Significantly greater POXC values under CC were observed at 0–5 cm and 45–60 cm depth than NCC in 5-year-old site. Additionally, PMC values were numerically greater under CC at 0–5 cm depth than NCC in both sites. Increased labile C (POXC and PMC) near the surface, suggests enhanced microbial activity and C mineralization. Greater parameter changes were notable in shallow depth (0–45 cm) but less pronounced at deeper depths (45–100 cm). These findings highlighted that long-term cover crop adoption can meaningfully enhance soil C storage in Missouri, including in sub-soils, providing valuable information for C accounting and the system's contribution to climate change mitigation.

查看原文本刊更多论文

覆盖作物对美国中西部免耕玉米-大豆轮作土壤碳形态和储量的长期影响

人为活动破坏了自然碳(C)平衡，导致全球气候变化。覆盖作物促进碳封存，但其长期影响和密苏里州深层土壤碳储存仍未被探索。本研究对覆盖作物管理下玉米[Zea mays (L.)] -大豆[Glycine max (L.)] 100 cm深度土壤C形态进行了研究。稳定。旋转。以美国密苏里州5年和10年覆盖作物为研究对象，采用免耕覆盖作物（CC）和免耕不覆盖作物（NCC）处理，取样至100 cm深度，分析土壤有机碳（SOC）、潜在矿化碳（PMC）和高锰酸盐可氧化碳（POXC）含量。覆盖作物增加了土壤有机碳含量和储量，且在0 ~ 5 cm深度增加最多。10年和5年土壤有机碳累积储量分别比NCC高10.3%和1.63%。有趣的是，这个10年的油田显示出稳定的碳形成的强烈迹象。5年样地0 ~ 5 cm和45 ~ 60 cm深度CC下的POXC值显著高于NCC。此外，在0-5 cm的CC下，PMC值在数值上大于NCC。地表附近活性碳（POXC和PMC）增加，表明微生物活性和碳矿化增强。浅层（0 ~ 45 cm）参数变化显著，而深层（45 ~ 100 cm）参数变化不明显。这些发现突出表明，长期种植覆盖作物可以有效地提高密苏里州的土壤C储存，包括地下土壤，为C核算和系统对减缓气候变化的贡献提供有价值的信息。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊