Soil & Tillage Research最新文献

{"title":"Effects of infiltrated rain during the construction stage on the deformation law of a sulphated gravel embankment in regions with seasonally frozen soil","authors":"Jinbao Han ,&nbsp;Guobin Jing ,&nbsp;Shasha Zhang ,&nbsp;Qian Yu ,&nbsp;Miaoxian Yao ,&nbsp;Jingyuan Kou","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106507","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106507","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The sulphated gravel embankment in seasonal frozen soil regions may experience deformation problems such as salt expansion, frost heave, and settlement under rainfall percolation conditions and changes in environmental temperature, affecting considerably its normal use. In response to these issues, relying on the renovation and expansion project of an international airport in northwest China, this paper used a self-designed temperature control testing device and conducted indoor constant temperature tests and freeze–thaw cycle tests using on-site natural embankment filling, and conducted numerical simulation tests using the COMSOL Multiphysics software programme. This paper investigated the characteristics of temperature variation, moisture, salt migration, and deformation of sulphated gravel in seasonal frozen soil regions under rainfall percolation conditions. The results indicated that under environmental temperature changes in the range of −10–25 °C, the temperature at which sulphated gravel salt expansion and frost heave occur was approximately −8 °C, and the deformation sensitive depth range from 0 to 200 mm. The moisture and salt contents of soil samples would experience a sudden increase due to rainfall percolation, with the sudden increase in moisture in the soil sample with a salt content of 0.9 % lagging that of the soil sample with a salt content of 0.5 % by one freeze–thaw cycle. Rainfall percolation significantly enhanced the settlement deformation of sulphated gravel during freeze–thaw cycles. The primary causes of soil deformation include the upward migration of water vapour, the downward percolation of moisture, and rainfall. These factors contribute to the destruction of the soil structure and alter the contact modes between soil particles, resulting in soil loosening and settlement deformation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"250 ","pages":"Article 106507"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143478821","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Leaching salinity and mulching straws during freeze-thaw period enhance post-thawing cotton yield and quality by optimizing soil aggregates stability","authors":"Pengcheng Luo ,&nbsp;Lu Zhao ,&nbsp;Rui Chen ,&nbsp;Pengpeng Chen ,&nbsp;Yam Prasad Dhital ,&nbsp;Haiqiang Li ,&nbsp;Dongwang Wang ,&nbsp;Juanjuan Yang ,&nbsp;Yu Chen ,&nbsp;Qinggang Liu ,&nbsp;Zhenhua Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106506","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106506","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The salinization of arable land in Xinjiang poses a significant barrier to local agricultural development, with seasonal freeze-thaw cycles intensifying the problem of soil salinization. Implementing agronomic measures to enhance soil properties during these cycles is crucial for mitigating salinization and promoting sustainable agriculture. This study presents the results of the simultaneous application of winter irrigation and straw mulching measures in saline areas of Xinjiang. A field experiment was conducted from the end of the 2022 cotton (Xinluzao 52) growing season to the end of the 2023 season, employing three winter irrigation quotas (1800, 2400, 3000 m³ ha⁻¹) and three straw mulch thicknesses (0, 10 cm (800 kg ha⁻¹), 20 cm (1600 kg ha⁻¹)) across, along with a control check (CK) without irrigation or mulching. We evaluated the 0–40 cm soil layer for changes in aggregate distribution and stability, soil salinity, and soil organic carbon (SOC) content before and after the freeze-thaw cycle. Additionally, we analyzed differences in cotton yield quality under each plot in 2023. The results showed that combination of winter irrigation and straw mulching significantly increased the content of large-aggregates (&gt; 2 mm) and enhanced aggregate stability, as measured by mean weight diameter (MWD) and geometric mean diameter (GWD). This combination also reduced soil salinity and increased soil organic carbon (SOC) content within the 0–40 cm soil layer during the freeze-thaw period, leading to improved cotton yield and quality in the subsequent year. Post freeze-thawing, large aggregate content, MWD, GMD, and SOC storage increased by 1.59 %-11.64 %, 1.61 %-21.61 %, 12.80 %-33.90 %, and 12.80 %-33.90 %, respectively, while salt storage decreased by 37.71 %-52.17 %. Compared to CK plots, seed cotton yield in winter irrigated and straw mulched plots increased by 844.70–2298.07 kg ha⁻¹. Pearson correlation and principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that winter irrigation combined with straw mulching enhances cotton yield and quality by increasing SOC content, reducing salinity in the tillage layer, and improving aggregate stability. Based on our findings, we recommend the application of winter irrigation and straw mulching before the freezing of saline soils in Xinjiang.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"250 ","pages":"Article 106506"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143478820","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Study on farmland drainage scheme in semi-arid area taking into account the environmental impact of farmland-ditch wetland system","authors":"Qian Wang ,&nbsp;Shan Li ,&nbsp;Liangjun Fei ,&nbsp;Miao Wu ,&nbsp;Runqiao Zheng ,&nbsp;Lei Zhang ,&nbsp;Xin Zhang ,&nbsp;Xinlong Bai ,&nbsp;Juan Li ,&nbsp;Haiou Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106497","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106497","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The soil water and salt status of farmland-ditch wetland system not only affects the productivity of farmland, but also affects the ecological function of ditch wetland. Therefore, it is necessary to reasonably regulate the dynamics and spatiotemporal distribution of soil water and salt in farmland and ditch wetlands, ensuring the water and salt content of farmland soil meets the needs of agricultural production, and the soil water and salt content in ditch wetlands is conducive to the healthy growth of wetland vegetation. In order to study the impact of drainage schemes on soil water and salt in farmland, as well as the wetland environment of ditch wetlands, this study takes the Lubotan farmland-ditch wetland system in Fuping County, Shaanxi Province, as an example. Based on the modified Green-Ampt slope rainfall infiltration model, the HYDRUS-2D model was improved to obtain the changes in soil water and salinity of farmland and drainage ditches over time under controlled drainage watertable depth (WTD). The plant growth evolution model of ditch wetlands was used to simulate the growth dynamics of typical plants in ditch wetlands under controlled drainage measures. The results showed that the improved HYDRUS-2D model could be used to simulate soil water and salt transport on farmland and drainage ditch slopes. Under the current drainage mode and two controlled drainage WTDs (1.2 m and 1.5 m), the salinity of farmland soil is lower than the salt tolerance limit of crops. The drainage WTD of 1.5 m is beneficial to the growth of <em>Phragmites australis</em> at the bottom of the drainage ditch. But the drainage WTD of 1.2 m is more conducive to reducing the amount of water and salt discharged from the farmland, thereby diminishing the adverse effects on the downstream environment, and has a positive effect on the growth of typical plants (<em>Suaeda salsa</em>) and the improvement of species diversity. After comprehensive analysis, it is considered that the drainage WTD of 1.2 m is a more suitable drainage control scheme under the existing planting and drainage structure in the study area. This study can provide theoretical support and scientific guidance for the design of drainage control schemes in similar irrigation areas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"250 ","pages":"Article 106497"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143464828","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Application of biochar in saline soils enhances soil resilience and reduces greenhouse gas emissions in arid irrigation areas","authors":"Shixiong Ren ,&nbsp;Jiawang Zhong ,&nbsp;Kai Wang ,&nbsp;Rong Liu ,&nbsp;Hao Feng ,&nbsp;Qin’ge Dong ,&nbsp;Yuchen Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106500","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106500","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Quantifying soil health is crucial for evaluating and guiding soil management strategies. Soil salinization has become one of the main threats to soil health. However, the effects of biochar application on the improvement of saline soils and greenhouse gas emissions remain controversial. This study focused on spring maize fields in the Hetao Irrigation District and conducted a two-year field experiment from 2021 to 2022. Biochar derived from maize stalks at a pyrolysis temperature of 400℃ was a evenly spread over the soil surface, manually incorporated, and then rotary tilled to ensure thorough mixing within the 0–30 cm soil layer. Five field treatments were set up: CK (no fertilizer), BC0 (0 t ha⁻¹ biochar), BC7.5 (7.5 t ha⁻¹ biochar), BC15 (15.0 t ha⁻¹ biochar), and BC22.5 (22.5 t ha⁻¹ biochar). The results showed that appropriate biochar (15.0 t ha⁻¹) addition increased soil profile nitrate nitrogen content, 0–40 cm soil organic carbon and total nitrogen, 0–120 cm soil water storage (SWS) and electrical conductivity, as well as maize plant height, leaf area index, dry matter accumulation, grains per row, 100-grain weight, yield, and water use efficiency (WUE). However, excessive biochar application (22.5 t ha⁻¹) reduced the effectiveness of soil water storage, led to salt accumulation, decreased soil profile nitrate nitrogen content, and increased maize water consumption. Additionally, biochar application reduced N₂O emission peaks, N₂O emission factors, and cumulative emissions, while promoting soil CH₄ absorption. Biochar reduced cumulative soil CO₂ emissions, but excessive application (22.5 t ha⁻¹) increased CO₂ cumulative emissions. Sole nitrogen fertilizer application significantly increased global warming potential (GWP) and greenhouse gas emission intensity (GHGI), but the combination of nitrogen fertilizer and biochar significantly reduced GWP and GHGI. These findings provide a theoretical basis for improving the health of saline soils and mitigating climate change.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"250 ","pages":"Article 106500"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143464829","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Legume-based rotation benefits crop productivity and agricultural sustainability in the North China Plain","authors":"Liying Zhang ,&nbsp;Chunyan Liu ,&nbsp;Wei Yao ,&nbsp;Junhao Shao ,&nbsp;Leanne Peixoto ,&nbsp;Yadong Yang ,&nbsp;Zhaohai Zeng ,&nbsp;Jørgen Eivind Olesen ,&nbsp;Huadong Zang","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106502","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106502","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Diversified rotation through legume inclusion supports sustainable crop production and reduces environmental risks, representing a key strategy for sustainable agriculture. However, the impacts of legume-based rotation on cropping system productivity and carbon (C) emissions have not been thoroughly investigated. Here, a field experiment was conducted to examine the impacts of three cropping systems (peanut-wheat, soybean-wheat vs. maize-wheat rotation) and two fertilization treatments (with and without fertilization) on crop yield, C footprint (CF), and agricultural sustainability. Our findings revealed that legume inclusion resulted in a higher crop yield (+40 % on average) than maize-wheat, and the yield advantage was 80% higher without than with fertilization. This demonstrated the effectiveness of legumes in enhancing crop production under low-input conditions. Legume inclusion enhanced the annual net income by 2.8 times over maize-wheat under no fertilization, while income declined by 20 % under fertilization. Notably, compared to maize-wheat, the direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under legume-wheat decreased by 43 %, while indirect GHG emissions showed no significant difference. Furthermore, legume inclusion mitigated soil C stock loss by 1579 (kg C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) under no fertilization and increased soil C stock by 3766 (kg C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) under fertilization, further reducing the CF (-31 %) and enhancing the agricultural sustainability (+86 %). In conclusion, our study indicates that legume-based rotation represents a vital strategy for promoting sustainable crop production and environmental advantages, particularly within low-input agricultural systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"250 ","pages":"Article 106502"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143453928","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Modeling the effect of tillage and irrigation management on water and barley productivity for different soil textures","authors":"Saadi Sattar Shahadha ,&nbsp;Ole Wendroth","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106505","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106505","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In arid and semi-arid regions, crop production is still limited by water scarcity and poor field management. To overcome these challenges, it is essential to discover effective agricultural practices that make the most of limited water availability and preserve soil nutrients. This study aimed to discover the best combination of tillage practices, irrigation systems, and soil textures that could promote the sustainable productivity of irrigation water and barley crop using the Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZWQM2). To achieve the study objective, an experiment was conducted in a barley growing seasons of 2020–2021 and 2021–2022 in Baghdad, Iraq, using sprinkler and flooding irrigation systems, as well as conservation (field cultivator) and conventional (moldboard plowing) tillage practices on two types of soil textures: silty clay and sandy clay. The results indicate that, RZWQM2 satisfactorily captures the combination effects of field practices on water-barley productivity in different soil textures. The behavior of soil water-nitrate dynamics, crop development, and water consumption presented a noticeable response to the combination of experimental factors. When sprinkler irrigation was utilized, sandy clay soil was more responsive to field practices than silty clay soil by about 6–12 %. The moldboard plowing practice increased crop development and yield by about 5–10 % compared to the field cultivator practice. The combination of sandy clay soil, sprinkler irrigation, and moldboard plowing yielded more satisfactory results of water use efficiency and crop productivity. Generally, for both soil texture types, moldboard plowing tillage showed satisfactory results compared to the field cultivator tillage.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"250 ","pages":"Article 106505"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143453838","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Advances in soil heating experimentation: A novel methodological framework for laboratory studies","authors":"Yasmmin Tadeu Costa ,&nbsp;Paulo Angelo Fachin ,&nbsp;Edivaldo Lopes Thomaz","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106494","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106494","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Studies using controlled soil heating in the laboratory make it possible to understand and portray different scenarios of fire severity in the soil. However, some laboratory soil heating techniques do not maintain some field variables that are indispensable in heating and heat transmission through the soil and may underestimate the real severity of heating. This study aims to propose a new method for fire simulation, considering influence factors that are closer to the reality of natural fires. For that purpose, undisturbed samples were taken at 0–5 cm depth from Red-Yellow Ferralsol (n = 52) and Haplic Cambisol (n = 52) in the Vila Velha State Park – Paraná states - southern Brazil. The samples were experimentally heated in a conventional electric oven with internal air circulation based on three real field variables: oven temperature (100; 200; 300ºC), plant litter cover (absent and present), and soil moisture (&lt;5 and 15–20 %), composing a 2x3x2 × 2 factorial scheme (n = 4). During heating, soil surface temperature was measured using thermocouples. The Kruskal-Wallis test was applied, followed by the Dunn test (p &lt; 0.05), considering the asymmetric and non-normalized distribution of the variables. The final temperatures reached in both soils varied between 36.3 and 220.0°C, being reduced when moisture was higher, plant litter cover was present, and sand content was lower. In this test, therefore, the most influential factors in soil heating were the applied temperature and vegetation cover. The positive points of the proposed method are: 1) associating two or more factors in controlled experiments; 2) quantifying the magnitude of influence for individual or combined factors; 3) contributing to decision making regarding the proper moment to apply controlled fire, once the effects at different conditions of moisture, soil cover and type are identified; and 4) evaluating the realistic effects of low and medium intensity natural fire heating on soil properties.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"249 ","pages":"Article 106494"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143429075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Abundant taxa enhanced stability of fungal communities according to reduced nitrogen fertilization","authors":"Heming Han ,&nbsp;Bo Zhang ,&nbsp;Hao Liu ,&nbsp;Yue Li ,&nbsp;Xu Weidong ,&nbsp;Liting Zhang ,&nbsp;Hui Cao ,&nbsp;Feng Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106501","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106501","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Excessive nitrogen fertilization has emerged as a significant focus of contemporary agricultural research. Reducing nitrogen fertilization is factually a process of decreasing soil nitrogen resource pulses, elucidating the environmental adaptations and ecological processes of soil fungal communities in this process, and contributions of different sub-communities in it, is a core but less known theme. We investigated soil fungal communities and subcommunities in response to reduction of nitrogen fertilization (fertilization rates were 100 %, 75 %, 50 %, and 0 %, respectively), based on a four-year field plot simulation experiment combining high-throughput sequencing technology. The diversity, community stability, environmental correlation, and co-occurrence network of soil fungal communities was analyzed, combined with concomitant alterations in soil nutrient content throughout the process of nitrogen fertilization reduction, aimed to compare the ecological impact of abundant and rare taxa on the whole soil fungal community. Our results showed that the nitrogen fertilization reduction decreased the diversity (Shannon index) and improved the stability of whole fungal communities. In addition, reduction in nitrogen fertilization leads to an improvement in soil pH (from 4.21 to 6.11) and a decrease in ammonium nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen (94.29 and 130.49 mg/kg, respectively), and abundant taxa showing higher sensitivity but less fluctuations in the breadth of the ecological niche to environmental changes. Reduced nitrogen fertilization resulted in a more complex and stable fungal network structure, while abundant taxa had less variability and higher contributions. These findings highlight the dominant role of abundant taxa in maintaining fungal community stability in facing nitrogen reduction strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"249 ","pages":"Article 106501"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143429074","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optimizing maize yield and mitigating salinization in the Yellow River Delta through organic fertilizer substitution for chemical fertilizers","authors":"Peng Hou ,&nbsp;Bowen Li ,&nbsp;Enkai Cao ,&nbsp;Shengqi Jian ,&nbsp;Zhaohui Liu ,&nbsp;Yan Li ,&nbsp;Zeqiang Sun ,&nbsp;Changjian Ma","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106498","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106498","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Improper fertilization and irrigation practices are recognized as primary contributors to the exacerbation of secondary salinization in agricultural soils. Substituting chemical fertilizers with organic fertilizers is considered an effective strategy to mitigate secondary salinization, improve saline-alkali soils, and enhance crop yields. However, the specific effects and underlying mechanisms of reducing chemical fertilizer application in combination with organic fertilizers in saline-alkali conditions remain insufficiently understood. This study focuses on summer maize grown in coastal saline-alkali areas, employing various proportions of organic fertilizer substitution (10 %, 20 %, 30 %, 40 %) to identify an optimal application model. The findings reveal that the application of organic fertilizer as a partial substitute for chemical fertilizer directly alters the contents of alkali-hydrolyzed nitrogen, available phosphorus, available potassium, and soil quality water content in different layers, which in turn affects the total absorption of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to varying degrees, thereby influencing the crop's grain yield and biomass yield. Compared to the conventional use of chemical fertilizers alone, the incorporation of organic fertilizers led to changes in grain yield and biomass yield, ranging from −13.14 % to 7.14 % and −4.86 % to −8.14 %, respectively. The soil contents of alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen, available phosphorus, and quick-acting potassium changed by −8.30 % to 1.40 %, −13.19 % to –7.81 %, and −1.81 % to 8.42 %, respectively. Additionally, the total uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium by maize varied by −10.03 % to 7.62 %, −10.95 % to –8.93 %, and −9.64 % to 21.95 %, respectively. Significant differences were observed in maize yield, soil nutrient levels, and plant nutrient utilization rates across the different proportions of organic fertilizer substitution. Notably, the highest maize yield was achieved when the substitution proportion was 30 %, suggesting this ratio as the optimal application model for maize production in the saline-alkali soils of the Yellow River Delta. These results provide a theoretical foundation for optimizing fertilizer management in maize cultivation within saline-alkali soils.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"249 ","pages":"Article 106498"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143421750","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing management strategies for carbon storage in Mediterranean soils: Double-cropping, no-tillage, and nitrogen fertilization reduction","authors":"Jesús Fernández-Ortega ,&nbsp;Jorge Álvaro-Fuentes ,&nbsp;Antonio Delgado ,&nbsp;Ana María García-López ,&nbsp;Carlos Cantero-Martínez","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106496","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106496","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In Mediterranean conditions, the historical use of traditional agricultural practices has led to a significant loss of soil organic carbon (SOC) and the associated benefits it provides. Consequently, it becomes imperative to explore effective strategies that promote the preservation and enhancement of SOC. Some promising practices to increase SOC are the use of double-cropping, conservation tillage, and reduced N fertilization. The aim of this study was to evaluate the combined effects of introducing a legume prior to maize, together with different tillage systems and mineral N fertilization rates on SOC and related fractions (particulate organic matter carbon, POM-C; mineral-associated organic matter carbon, Min-C; and permanganate-oxidizable organic carbon, POxC). Additionally, the study aimed to investigate enzymatic activities associated with the carbon cycle. The study compared monocropping maize (MC) versus legume-maize double-cropping (DC) with two tillage systems (conventional tillage, CT; no-tillage, NT), and three mineral N fertilization rates (zero, medium and high). The legumes employed were pea for grain (2019), vetch for green manure (2020), and vetch for forage (2021). The DC increased the SOC level by 10.6 % compared to the use of MC, with POM-C as the main fraction involved in this change. Thus, the employment of DC allowed for the maintenance of SOC levels, while the use of MC resulted in their reduction compared to the levels observed at the beginning of the experiment. NT exhibited higher values of SOC and its fractions POM-C and Min-C. These differences were observed only in the 0–10 cm depth layers. The use of NT enabled the maintenance of SOC compared to the initial studied period, while CT reduced SOC. The treatments with N fertilization achieved higher values of SOC and all the studied fractions compared to the unfertilized treatment. However, at the end of the experiment, it was found that the application of N fertilization, especially at high rates, led to a decrease in SOC. Additionally, it was observed that the employment of DC and NT increased the enzymatic activities of dehydrogenase and β-glucosidase. The results of this study indicate that the utilization of legume-maize DC, as well as the implementation of NT and reduced N fertilization, are useful strategies to maintain SOC levels and improving the biological quality of the soil under Mediterranean irrigated conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"249 ","pages":"Article 106496"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143418523","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}