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The short-term cover crops increase soil labile organic carbon in southeastern Australia

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Abstract

Little information is available about the effects of cover crops on soil labile organic carbon (C), especially in Australia. In this study, two cover crop species, i.e., wheat and Saia oat, were broadcast-seeded in May 2009 and then crop biomass was crimp-rolled onto the soil surface at anthesis in October 2009 in southeastern Australia. Soil and crop residue samples were taken in December 2009 to investigate the short-term effects of cover crops on soil pH, moisture, NH +4 –N, NO −3 –N, soluble organic C and nitrogen (N), total organic C and N, and C mineralization in comparison with a nil-crop control (CK). The soil is a Chromic Luvisol according to the FAO classification with 48.4 ± 2.2% sand, 19.5 ± 2.1% silt, and 32.1 ± 2.1% clay. An exponential model fitting was employed to assess soil potentially labile organic C (C 0) and easily decomposable organic C for all treatments based on 46-day incubations. The results showed that crop residue biomass significantly decreased over the course of 2-month decomposition. The cover crop treatments had significantly higher soil pH, soluble organic C and N, cumulative CO2–C, C 0, and easily decomposable organic C, but significantly lower NO −3 –N than the CK. However, no significant differences were found in soil moisture, NH +4 –N, and total organic C and N contents among the treatments. Our results indicated that the short-term cover crops increased soil labile organic C pools, which might have implications for local agricultural ecosystem managements in this region.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the Australian Research Council, Griffith University, Industry & Investment NSW, and Grains Research and Development Corporation. We thank Mr. Eric Koetz for assistance in the field experiments and soil and biomass sampling. We greatly thank Prof. P. Nannipieri, Editor-in-Chief, and two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments on the early version of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Futures Centre, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Nathan, 4111, Australia

    Xiaoqi Zhou, Chengrong Chen, Shunbao Lu & Zhihong Xu

  2. School of Biomolecular and Physical Sciences, Griffith University, Nathan, 4111, Australia

    Xiaoqi Zhou, Yichao Rui & Zhihong Xu

  3. EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation, Wagga Wagga Agricultural Institute, Industry & Investment NSW, Pine Gully Road, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 2650, Australia

    Hanwen Wu

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  1. Xiaoqi Zhou
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  2. Chengrong Chen
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  3. Shunbao Lu
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  4. Yichao Rui
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  5. Hanwen Wu
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  6. Zhihong Xu
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Correspondence to Xiaoqi Zhou or Chengrong Chen.

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Zhou, X., Chen, C., Lu, S. et al. The short-term cover crops increase soil labile organic carbon in southeastern Australia. Biol Fertil Soils 48, 239–244 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-011-0594-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-011-0594-9

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