Paul Bannwart , Antoine Gardarin , Violaine Deytieux , Stéphane Cordeau , Sandrine Petit
{"title":"Pesticide-free fields under minimum tillage and flower strips enhance carabid beetles and spiders through increased overwintering and spill over processes","authors":"Paul Bannwart , Antoine Gardarin , Violaine Deytieux , Stéphane Cordeau , Sandrine Petit","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2026.110250","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2026.110250","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Enhancing generalist arthropod predators in arable farming can contribute to pest control and pesticide use reduction, and be achieved through a diversity of management options at field and farm scales. Most studies however link management options to densities of circulating adults, which gives little insight into potential source-sinks dynamics and the occurrence of ‘source’ habitats enabling overwintering. In this study, we assessed the assemblages of emerging and circulating ground-dwelling carabids and spiders during four months in a continuous mosaic of pesticide-free winter-sown crops under contrasted tillage regimes (minimum <em>vs.</em> conventional tillage) and sown flower strips bordering fields. We detected clear patterns, with high in-field carabid and spider overwintering densities than in adjacent flower strips, which were rarely a preferred overwintering habitat. Our results nevertheless indicate that within both taxa, different species exhibit different responses and source-sink dynamics. Our results also demonstrate the key role of pesticide-free fields under minimum tillage, acting both as a high-quality overwintering site for some dominant carabid species and as a source habitat, as several predator species activity-density responded positively to the increased area of minimum tillage fields in the surroundings. We detected a comparable positive effect of the area of flower strips in the surrounding for some species, suggesting that these linear features could also act as a temporary refuge and source. These findings highlight that sustaining diverse communities of carabid beetles and spiders probably requires adopting several and complementary management options and that in-field farming practice represent a powerful lever to foster natural enemies populations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"400 ","pages":"Article 110250"},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146033222","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}
Xin Ju , Guodong Han , Xinli Chen , Zhongwu Wang , Zhiguo Li , Ton Bisseling , Iain Gordon , Qian Wu
{"title":"Grazing intensity shifts biodiversity drivers of ecosystem multifunctionality in a desert steppe","authors":"Xin Ju , Guodong Han , Xinli Chen , Zhongwu Wang , Zhiguo Li , Ton Bisseling , Iain Gordon , Qian Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2026.110255","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2026.110255","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Intensive grazing can threaten biodiversity and reduce the capacity of grassland ecosystems to sustain multiple ecological functions, particularly in arid regions. How grazing intensity shapes biodiversity, ecosystem multifunctionality, and their interrelationship remains poorly understood. Using a long-term grazing experiment in a desert steppe in northern China, we tested how grazing intensity (at four levels: no, light, moderate, and heavy grazing) affects above- and belowground biodiversity, ecosystem multifunctionality, and their relationship. We found that light grazing increased ecosystem multifunctionality, particularly aboveground multifunctionality. In contrast, moderate and heavy grazing reduced ecosystem multifunctionality, affecting both above- and belowground multifunctionality. For single ecosystem functions, light grazing enhanced productivity, whereas moderate and heavy grazing simultaneously suppressed productivity, carbon cycling, and nutrient supply functions. Notably, under no and light grazing conditions, ecosystem multifunctionality was primarily driven by aboveground diversity, with plant diversity playing a dominant role. In contrast, belowground diversity, especially soil bacterial diversity, became the primary driver of ecosystem multifunctionality under moderate and heavy grazing conditions. Therefore, our findings highlight that the strength and nature of the biodiversity-multifunctionality relationships are shaped by grazing intensity, and light grazing either enhanced or maintained high levels of both biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, offering a promising strategy for sustaining multifunctionality in the desert steppe.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"400 ","pages":"Article 110255"},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146048014","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}
Weiling Niu , Jingyi Ding , Wenwu Zhao , Jing Wang , Wenzhu Tu , Yue Liu , Bojie Fu
{"title":"Aridity and grazing regulate the effects of grassland biodiversity on the trade-offs and synergies among ecosystem functions in drylands","authors":"Weiling Niu , Jingyi Ding , Wenwu Zhao , Jing Wang , Wenzhu Tu , Yue Liu , Bojie Fu","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2026.110267","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2026.110267","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Grasslands are critical components in global drylands, yet they face threats of increasing aridity and overgrazing under global change. A diverse group of plants and soil microbes are known to enhance grassland resilience and maintain multiple ecosystem functions (multifunctionality) to face these threats. However, it is not clear under which levels of aridity and grazing intensity, plant and microbial diversity most effectively promote multiple ecosystem functions. Here, we surveyed 91 sites across the arid and semiarid natural grasslands in Xinjiang to assess the relative importance of plant and microbial diversity to regulate ecosystem functions, as well as trade-offs and synergies among ecosystem functions, and to examine how these relationships are mediated by aridity and grazing intensity. We found that the positive relationship between plant diversity and multifunctionality was stronger in arid than in semiarid regions. In arid regions, multifunctionality and synergies among ecosystem functions were positively correlated with plant diversity under low and moderate grazing intensity and negatively related to microbial diversity under high grazing intensity. Overall, increasing plant and microbial diversity generally reduced the trade-offs between pair-ecosystem functions in arid regions. Moreover, aridity reduced synergies among ecosystem functions by increasing soil pH in arid regions, whereas grazing reduced synergies among ecosystem functions by increasing soil clay content in semiarid regions. Together, our results indicate that conserving plant diversity is essential for maintaining synergies among ecosystem functions under low and moderate grazing intensity, while reducing soil disturbance and restoring soil physical properties (e.g., through retaining plant residues and promoting litter accumulation) to promote microbial diversity and activities is of high priority under high grazing intensity. Moreover, a predicted drier climate will further weaken synergies among ecosystem functions. Improving soil physical conditions through reducing grazing intensity and retention of plant residues may buffer these negative effects of aridity and enhance the resilience and sustainability of grasslands in semiard and arid regions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"400 ","pages":"Article 110267"},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146090714","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}
Ranran Zhou , Yanfang Xue , Amit Kumar , Anna Gunina , Jun Ling , Zhenling Cui , Yakov Kuzyakov , Jing Tian
{"title":"Particulate and mineral-associated organic matter in cropland soils: Meta-analysis of management effects","authors":"Ranran Zhou , Yanfang Xue , Amit Kumar , Anna Gunina , Jun Ling , Zhenling Cui , Yakov Kuzyakov , Jing Tian","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2026.110218","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2026.110218","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil organic carbon (SOC), a critical component of terrestrial carbon storage, can be classified into particulate organic carbon (POC) and mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC), which differ in both stability and sensitivity to management. POC is dynamic and accumulates rapidly, whereas MAOC is more stable and critical for long-term sequestration, making their simultaneous increase a major challenge in agroecosystem management. Here, we synthesized 1702 paired observations from croplands globally to assess the individual and combined effects of nitrogen (N) and organic matter (OM) inputs on SOC pools, classifying their interactions as additive (sum of individual effects), antagonistic (less than expected), or synergistic (greater than expected). N fertilization alone primarily increased POC by 30 %, contributing to an 11 % rise in total SOC. OM inputs, whether applied alone or in combination with mineral N, increased both POC and MAOC, with integrated N and OM inputs showing predominantly additive effects—increasing POC and MAOC by 87 % and 24 %, respectively. MAOC dynamics were influenced by both edaphic and management factors, with responses being time-dependent and strongly modulated by initial SOC content and pH. Short-term increases in MAOC were particularly evident in low-carbon (<16 g kg⁻¹) and alkaline soils. In contrast, POC was mainly governed by management factors, particularly the interactions between carbon source type and application duration, with manure co-application accelerating rapid accumulation within the first six years. Global projections indicated substantial potential for POC increases, especially in Southeast Asia and Europe, whereas MAOC gains remained spatially constrained. Overall, although N and OM inputs did not consistently yield synergistic effects, combined applications generally outperformed individual inputs and were able to increase POC and MAOC over short timescales, underscoring the advantages of context-dependent integrated management for efficiently increasing sequestration across multiple SOC pools.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"400 ","pages":"Article 110218"},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145941077","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}
Azhar Zhartybayeva , Bent T. Christensen , Jørgen Eriksen , Axel Don , Johannes L. Jensen
{"title":"Carbon in above- and belowground harvest residues of silage maize under contrasting nutrient regimes","authors":"Azhar Zhartybayeva , Bent T. Christensen , Jørgen Eriksen , Axel Don , Johannes L. Jensen","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2026.110243","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2026.110243","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Models simulating management-induced changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in agricultural soils typically rely on crop-specific above- and belowground C inputs based on harvest yields and allometric functions. However, experimental data supporting these functions over a range of yield levels induced by different nutrient regimes are scarce. This study addresses this gap by quantifying above- and belowground harvest residues of silage maize grown in the Askov long-term experiment and subject to mineral fertilizers and animal manure applied at different levels (deficient, suboptimal, optimal, and over-optimal). Two methodological approaches (coring and excavation) were combined to quantify macro-root biomass (≥ 425 µm) in the 0–30 cm soil layer. Nutrient regime had a significant effect on maize harvest yield, but no significant effect on stubble and root biomass C was detected. The measured total above- and belowground C in harvest residues for silage maize grown with suboptimal to over-optimal nutrient supply averaged 1.67 Mg C ha<sup>−1</sup> without including rhizodeposition. Based on a single site and one experimental year, our results suggest that soil C models may better rely on fixed C inputs from maize stubble and roots, independent of nutrient regime and harvest yield, rather than on yield-dependent allometrics. Measurements of above- and belowground harvest residues in silage maize are rare, and further studies are needed to verify the estimation of C inputs for soil C modelling.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"400 ","pages":"Article 110243"},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145974738","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}
Luís Felipe Guandalin Zagatto, Valerie L. Kalle, Tanja Bakx-Schotman, Ciska Raaijmakers, Koen J.F. Verhoeven, Dina in 't Zandt, Wim H. van der Putten
{"title":"Land use influences prokaryotes more than fungi in adjacent hedgerow soils","authors":"Luís Felipe Guandalin Zagatto, Valerie L. Kalle, Tanja Bakx-Schotman, Ciska Raaijmakers, Koen J.F. Verhoeven, Dina in 't Zandt, Wim H. van der Putten","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2026.110238","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2026.110238","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Intensive agricultural practices decrease aboveground and belowground biodiversity with an impact on ecosystem functioning. The planting of hedgerows has been advocated as a way to increase biodiversity in agricultural landscapes, but little is known about the effects of the adjacent land use on hedgerow biodiversity. Here, we show that the adjacent agricultural land use influences the composition, structure, and complexity of soil microbial communities underneath hedgerows that have been in place for more than hundred years. In the Maasheggen UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, we examined hedgerows adjacent to three land use types: low-intensity conservation grasslands, high-intensity production grasslands, and croplands. Soil samples were collected from both the center of the fields and underneath two adjacent hedgerows to analyze soil chemistry and microbial community composition, diversity, structure, and complexity. Our results show that hedgerow soils supported more complex and interconnected microbial communities than adjacent fields. Additionally, prokaryotic communities were highly responsive to land use, particularly to arable croplands, and prokaryote composition in hedgerows largely resembled that of the adjacent fields. In contrast, fungal communities consistently differed between hedgerows and adjacent fields, although hedgerows next to croplands hosted a fungal community that differed from hedgerows next to grasslands. We conclude that the community composition of prokaryotes in hedgerow soil was under strong control of adjacent field management, whereas fungal community composition was far less affected. Moreover, hedgerow soils harbored structurally more complex microbial communities than adjacent fields that were used for high-intensity agriculture. Further studies are needed to analyze costs and benefits of hedgerow soils for providing ecosystem services.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"400 ","pages":"Article 110238"},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145974676","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}
Xiao Chen , Rui Wang , Lei Ma , Han Zhang , Zhisheng Yao , Kai Wang , Wei Zhang , Siqi Li , Shenghui Han , Chunyan Liu , Yong Li , Xunhua Zheng
{"title":"Effects of short-term grazing prohibition on methane, nitrous oxide and nitric oxide fluxes from alpine meadows on eastern Tibetan Plateau","authors":"Xiao Chen , Rui Wang , Lei Ma , Han Zhang , Zhisheng Yao , Kai Wang , Wei Zhang , Siqi Li , Shenghui Han , Chunyan Liu , Yong Li , Xunhua Zheng","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2026.110259","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2026.110259","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Short-term grazing prohibition (STGP) is a common practice to restore degraded alpine meadows. But its effects on emissions of greenhouse gas (GHG) and reactive nitrogen gases remain ambiguous, particularly regarding year-round dynamics and net climate impacts. Here, we address these knowledge gaps by investigating STGP′s influence on methane (CH<sub>4</sub>), nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O) and nitric oxide (NO) in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau with a field trial comparing the conventionally grazed and short-term-ungrazed treatments. Using static opaque chamber methods, we year-roundly measured dynamical fluxes of these gases in the second full year of grazing prohibition. However, the net climate impact of STGP remains uncertain due to the lack of diurnal flux measurements and concurrent CO<sub>2</sub> exchange data. The STGP practice significantly (<em>P</em> < 0.001) increased CH<sub>4</sub> uptake by <sub>4</sub>8 % annually and by 51 % in growing season. It significantly (<em>P</em> < 0.001) raised N<sub>2</sub>O emissions by 124 % annually and by 191 % in non-growing season while obviously (<em>P</em> < 0.05) reducing NO emissions by about 63 % in growing season. Notably, the STGP-stimulated N<sub>2</sub>O emissions surged by 288 % during freeze-thaw periods (<em>P</em> < 0.001). In addition, STGP tended to reduce temperature sensitivity for CH<sub>4</sub> uptakes in non-growing season and for N<sub>2</sub>O and NO emissions in growing season. Notably, the CO<sub>2</sub>-equivalent balance reveals a trade-off: while the aggregate of CH<sub>4</sub> and N<sub>2</sub>O remained a net sink at the 20-year horizon, it shifted to a source at the 100-year horizon, with STGP increasing the net positive emission by nearly 5-fold. This suggests that the climate benefit of enhanced CH<sub>4</sub> uptake could be offset by intensified N<sub>2</sub>O emissions over the long term. However, the net climate impact of STGP still remains uncertain due to methodological constraints, including the use of static opaque chambers (which exclude diurnal and plant‑mediated fluxes) and the lack of simultaneous CO<sub>2</sub> exchange measurements. Future studies integrating complementary methods and longer‑term monitoring are needed to fully quantify STGP′s impact on net ecosystem GHG balance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"400 ","pages":"Article 110259"},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146014804","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}
Zhi Liang , Juliana Trindade Martins , Leanne Peixoto , Kirsten Lønne Enggrob , Chiara De Notaris , Jim Rasmussen
{"title":"Nitrogen sustainability and soil carbon sequestration in fresh grain legume-based rotations: The vital role of the cover crop mixture","authors":"Zhi Liang , Juliana Trindade Martins , Leanne Peixoto , Kirsten Lønne Enggrob , Chiara De Notaris , Jim Rasmussen","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.110206","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.110206","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Building soil carbon (C) while retaining nitrogen (N) is central to sustainable agriculture. Integrating fresh grain legumes (GLs) with cover crops could achieve both, yet documentation of combined C and N benefits is lacking at the rotation scale. In particular, no study has quantified total C inputs, including root fragments and rhizodeposited C, from both main GLs and cover crops within a single crop sequence. We conducted a two-year rotation in Denmark, comparing fresh GLs (faba bean, pea, pea-barley mixture) with a cereal reference (barley), each followed by two cover crop types (pure ryegrass or a mixture of ryegrass, plantain and chicory) and a subsequent cereal. We tracked N recycling (biological N₂ fixation, soil N availability, residual N fertility) and quantified root fragments and net rhizodeposited C from both main and cover crops (1-m), using a ¹ ³CO<sub>2</sub>-labelling approach. Among GLs, faba bean fixed the most atmospheric N₂ and left substantial residual N, that cover crops captured and translated into higher subsequent cereal yields. GLs supplied less belowground C inputs than the barley reference (1 vs. 2 Mg C ha<sup>−1</sup>), yet the cover crop mixture after faba bean remarkably added up to fivefold C (5 Mg ha<sup>−1</sup>) that of the preceding main crops. Total C inputs from faba bean-cover crop matched those of the barley-cover crop reference (4–5 vs. 5–6 Mg C ha<sup>−1</sup>). As the first empirical study, we demonstrated fresh GLs-cover crops, particularly faba bean-cover crop mixture, enhanced C inputs and sustained N recycling.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"400 ","pages":"Article 110206"},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145895866","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}
Claudia C. Schwennen , Albert Tietema , Emiel E. van Loon , Klaus S. Larsen , Tamar Tulp , Bram Ebben , Roland Bol , S. Henrik Barmentlo
{"title":"Spatiotemporal patterns of ammonia fluxes on temperate dairy farm production grassland (Lolium perenne L.)","authors":"Claudia C. Schwennen , Albert Tietema , Emiel E. van Loon , Klaus S. Larsen , Tamar Tulp , Bram Ebben , Roland Bol , S. Henrik Barmentlo","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2026.110258","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2026.110258","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The nitrogen cycle is significantly altered by agricultural activities such as animal husbandry and fertilization, which can turn the landscape from a natural sink of ammonia (NH<sub>3</sub>) to a net source. Ammonia fluxes at broader spatiotemporal scales have been well studied, however, smaller-scale, point source studies are needed to quantify atmosphere-biosphere nitrogen balances around individual agricultural sources such as extensively managed production grassland. The aim of this study was to quantify the spatiotemporal variation in NH<sub>3</sub> fluxes on dairy farm production grassland (<em>Lolium perenne</em> L.) throughout a full year. We focused on the dairy stable as a point emission source, as well as on the management practices (such as slurry application) performed by farmers. The temporal variation in NH<sub>3</sub> fluxes was assessed using novel automated dynamic flux chambers adapted for NH<sub>3</sub>. Manual flux chambers were deployed to determine spatial variation. While fluxes did vary spatially, we found significant losses of NH<sub>3</sub> (99.6 %) during the growing and harvesting season (March to September). This was largely attributed to substantial emission rates directly after slurry application while net emission/deposition was close to zero during late-fall and winter. Overall, the net annual NH<sub>3</sub>-N emission of this production grassland was 12 kg ha<sup>−1</sup> y<sup>−1</sup>. Post slurry application emissions were especially high during warm and dry weather conditions. Optimizing the timing of fertilization application according to local weather conditions can therefore serve as a management practice to limit NH<sub>3</sub> emission, benefitting both farmers and the natural environment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"400 ","pages":"Article 110258"},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146048016","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}
Samuel Adingo , Rui Jiang , Zichun Guo , Fahui Jiang , Lei Gao , Jianli Liu , Shuai Liu , Xinhua Peng
{"title":"Crop rotation impacts on SOC fraction contents and stability: Insights from a global meta-analysis","authors":"Samuel Adingo , Rui Jiang , Zichun Guo , Fahui Jiang , Lei Gao , Jianli Liu , Shuai Liu , Xinhua Peng","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.110128","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.110128","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Crop rotation (CR) is widely recognized as a sustainable agricultural practice that enhances soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation and maintains soil health. However, the specific effects of CR on distinct SOC fractions and SOC stability in cropland soils remain largely unexplored. We synthesized 44 studies comprising 196 paired observations from Asia, Africa, and Europe to quantify CR effects on SOC fraction contents (particulate organic carbon, POC, and mineral-associated organic carbon, MAOC), as well as its stability across climate-soil-management contexts. Relative to continuous monocropping (MC), CR increased SOC, POC, and MAOC contents by 11.83 %, 23.56 %, and 8.57 %, respectively, and on average increased the SOC stability (indicated by POC/MAOC ratio, hereafter P/M) by 16.25 %, indicating a larger labile share at the global mean. However, subgroup analysis reveals conditions under which CR reduced the P/M ratio. Notably, CR increased SOC and its fractions but tended to reduce the P/M ratios at high temperatures and in humid regions. CR increased SOC and MAOC in acidic soils, while it enhanced POC in neutral soils relative to MC. Positive effects of CR on SOC, its fractions, and stability were observed in high initial SOC and loamy soils for POC and clayey soils for SOC, MAOC, and SOC stability. The opposite trend was observed in low initial SOC and sandy soils. The random forest results showed that changes in SOC fractions were predominantly regulated by climatic factors, while MAOC, POC, and the P/M ratio were more responsive to soil properties and agronomic practices, respectively. These findings argue for region-specific, diversified rotations paired with practices that channel inputs into MAOC to lower the P/M ratio. Incorporating the P/M ratio into monitoring, reporting, and verification complements total stock accounting by identifying systems that build durable carbon.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"399 ","pages":"Article 110128"},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145689947","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}