Abstract
Cover cropping is a major challenge in the sustainable management of rainfed olive orchards. From a 5 year study (2009–2014), the effect of a mixture of early-maturing and self-reseeding annual legumes (Legs) grown as a cover crop in a rainfed olive orchard was compared with a cover of natural vegetation fertilized with 60 kg nitrogen (N) ha−1 year−1 (NV +N), and a cover of natural vegetation not fertilized (NV −N). The study took place in NE Portugal. The following were assessed: (1) the performance of the covers by measuring ground cover percentages, dry matter yields and N content in aboveground biomass; (2) the soil fertility through chemical and microbiological assays and by growing plants in pot experiments; and (3) the nutritional status of olive trees and olive yields. Legumes gave higher ground-cover percentages, produced more biomass and accumulated more N in shoots in comparison to natural vegetation, whether fertilized or not. The results showed intense biological activity [microbial carbon (C) and N, CO2–C evolved in a laboratory incubation, metabolic quotient, total culturable fungi and bacteria, and acid phosphatase activity] in the 0–10 cm soil layer of the treatments producing more biomass (Legs and NV +N). However, soil available N was greater in soil samples from the Legs plot. N recoveries by turnip (Brassica rapa var. rapa L.) and rye (Secale cereale L.) grown in pot experiments were 84.4 and 60.2 mg pot−1 in soil samples from the Legs treatment and 29.4 and 27.1 mg pot−1 and 14.2 and 13.6 mg pot−1, respectively in NV +N and NV −N plots. Sown legumes appeared less effective in increasing organic C than natural vegetation. Nevertheless, in the Legs plot the increase of easily mineralizable C was proportionally higher than the increase of total organic C, which may mean that a more reactive pool of organic C is created, which may reduce the turnover of organic C and N in the soil. In the 10–20 cm soil layer, total organic C was significantly lower in Legs (14.0 g kg−1) than in NV −N (22.1 g kg−1) and N +NV (25.2 g kg−1) treatments, likely due to a priming effect caused by mineral N coming from the surface layer. Two years after the trial started, the N nutritional status of the olive trees was significantly higher in Legs than in natural vegetation plots even when 60 kg N ha−1 year−1 was applied. The cumulative olive yields in NV −N and NV +N plots were only 58.6 and 77.7 % in comparison to those found in the Legs plot, if only the last four harvests were considered, which were those influenced by the ground-cover treatments (2010–2013).
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agnelli A, Ascher JC, Ceccherini MT, Nannipieri P, Pietramellara G (2004) Distribution of microbial communities in a forest soil profile investigated by microbial biomass, soil respiration and DGGE of total and extracellular DNA. Soil Biol Biochem 36:859–868
Anderson T-H, Domsch KH (2010) Soil microbial biomass: the eco-physiological approach. Soil Biol Biochem 42:2039–2043
Arrobas M, Rodrigues MA (2013) Agronomic evaluation of a fertiliser with D-CODER technology, a new mechanism for the slow release of nutrients. J Agr Sci Tech 15:409–419
Arrobas M, Ferreira IQ, Claro M, Correia CM, Moutinho-Pereira J, Rodrigues MA (2011) Introdução de cobertos de leguminosas anuais em olival. Vida Rural, pp 32–34
Brookes PC, Landman A, Pruden G, Jenkinson DS (1985) Chloroform fumigation and the release of soil nitrogen: a rapid direct extraction method to measure microbial biomass nitrogen in soil. Soil Biol Biochem 17:837–842
Cooper J, Scherer H (2012) Nitrogen fixation. In: Marschner P (ed) Marschner’s mineral nutrition of higher plants, 3rd edn. Academic Press, London, pp 389–408
Damgaard C, Merlin A, Mesléard F, Bonis A (2011) The demography of space occupancy: measuring plant colonization and survival probabilities using repeated pin-point measurements. Methods Ecol Evol 2:110–115
Dinesh R, Srinivasan V, Hamza S, Manjusha A, Kumar PS (2012) Short-term effects of nutrient management regimes on biochemical and microbial properties in soils under rainfed ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.). Geoderma 173(174):192–198
Driouech N, Abou Fayad A, Ghanem A, Al-Bitar L (2008) Agronomic performance of annual self-reseeding legumes and their self-establishment potential in the Apulia region of Italy. In: 16th IFOAM Organic World Congress, Modena, Italy, June pp 16–20
Eichler-Löbermann B, Gaj R, Schnug E (2009) Improvement of soil phosphorus availability by green fertilization with catch crops. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 40:70–81
Ferreira IQ, Arrobas M, Claro AM, Rodrigues MA (2013) Soil management in rainfed olive orchards may result in conflicting effects on olive production and soil fertility. Span J Agric Res 11(2):472–480
Gómez JA, Guzmán MG, Giráldez JV, Ferreres E (2009) The influence of cover crops and tillage on water and sediment yield, and on nutrient, and organic matter losses in an olive orchard on a sandy loam soil. Soil Till Res 106:137–144
Gucci R, Caruso G, Bertolla C, Urbani S, Tatichi A, Esposto S, Servili M, Sifola MI, Pellegrini S, Pagliai M, Vignozzi N (2012) Changes of soil properties and tree performances induced by soil management in a high-density olive orchard. Eur J Agron 41:18–27
Hardarson G, Atkins C (2003) Optimising biological N2 fixation by legumes in farming systems. Plant Soil 252:41–54
Instituto National de Estatísticas (INE) (2013) Estatísticas Agrícolas. Instituto Nacional de Estatísticas, I.P., Lisbon
Jenkinson DS, Fox RH, Rayner JH (1985) Interactions between fertilizer nitrogen and soil nitrogen—the so-called “priming effect”. J Soil Sci 36:425–444
Kairis O, Karavitis C, Kounalaki A, Salvati L, Kosmas C (2013) The effect of land management practices on soil erosion and land desertification in an olive grove. Soil Use Manag 29:597–606
Kumar K, Goh KM (2002) Recovery of 15N-labelled fertilizer applied to winter wheat and perennial ryegrass crops and residual 15N recovery by succeeding wheat crops under different crop residue management practices. Nutr Cycl Agroecosys 62:123–130
Le Bayon RC, Weisskopf L, Martinoia E, Jansa J, Frossard E, Keller F, Föllmi KB, Gobat J-M (2006) Soil phosphorus uptake by continuously cropped Lupinus albus: a new microcosm design. Plant Soil 283:309–321
Martínez JRF, Zuazo VHD, Raya AM (2006) Environmental impact from mountainous olive orchard under different soil-management systems (SE Spain). Sci Total Environ 358:46–60
Mauromicale G, Occhipinti A, Mauro RP (2010) Selection of shade-adapted subterranean clover species for cover cropping in orchards. Agron Sustain Dev 30:473–480
Monday TA, Foshee WG, Blythe EK, Dozier WA, Wells LW, Sibley JL, Brown JE (2013) Nitrogen requirements for sweetpotato following a crimson clover cover crop. Int J Veg Sci 19:78–82
Montanaro G, Celano G, Dichio B, Xiloyannis C (2010) Effect of soil-protecting agricultural practices on soil organic carbon and productivity in fruit tree orchards. Land Degrad Dev 21:132–138
Monteiro AM (2007) Olivicultura: uma estratégia possível para Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, região de oliveiras, olivais, azeites e azeitonas. Ouro Virgem 3:94–115
Moreno B, Garcia-Rodriguez S, Cañizares R, Castro J, Benítez E (2009) Rainfed olive farming in South-eastern Spain: long-term effect of soil management on biological indicators of soil quality. Agric Ecosyst Environ 131:333–339
Nuruzzaman M, Lambers H, Bolland MDA, Veneklaas EJ (2005) Phosphorus benefits of different legume crops to subsequent wheat grown in different soils of Western Australia. Plant Soil 271:175–187
Nuruzzaman M, Lambers H, Bolland MDA, Veneklaas EJ (2006) Distribution of carboxylates and acid phosphatase and depletion of different phosphorus fractions in the rhizosphere of a cereal and three grain legumes. Plant Soil 281:109–120
Ovalle C, Pozo A, Peoples MB, Lavín A (2010) Estimating the contribution of nitrogen from legume cover crops to the nitrogen nutrition of grapevines using a 15N dilution technique. Plant Soil 334:247–259
Pereira EL, Santos SAP, Arrobas M, Patrício MS (2011) Microbial biomass and N mineralization in mixed plantations of broadleaves and nitrogen-fixing species. For Syst 20(3):516–524
Pirhofer-Walzl K, Rasmussen J, Høgh-Jensen H, Eriksen J, Søegaard K, Rasmussen J (2012) Nitrogen transfer from forage legumes to nine neighboring plants in a multi-species grassland. Plant Soil 350:71–84
Ramos ME, Benítez E, García P, Robles AB (2010) Cover crops under different managements vs. frequent tillage in almond orchards in semiarid conditions: effects on soil quality. Appl Soil Ecol 44:6–14
Ramos ME, Robles AB, Sánchez-Navarro A, González-Rebollar JL (2011) Soil responses to different management practices in rainfed orchards in semiarid environments. Soil Till Res 112:85–91
Rodrigues MA (2009) Nota introdutória. In: Rodrigues MA, Correia C (eds) Manual da Safra e Contra Safra do Olival. Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Portugal, pp 7–8
Rodrigues MA, Pereira A, Cabanas E, Dias L, Pires J, Arrobas M (2006) Crops use-efficiency of nitrogen from manures permitted in organic farming. Eur J Agron 25:328–335
Rodrigues MA, Santos H, Ruivo S, Arrobas M (2010a) Slow-release N fertilisers are not an alternative to urea for fertilisation of autumn-grown tall cabbage. Eur J Agron 32(2):137–143
Rodrigues MA, Gomes V, Dias LG, Pires J, Aguiar CF, Arrobas M (2010b) Evaluation of soil nitrogen availability by growing tufts of nitrophilic species in an intensively grazed biodiverse legume-rich pasture. Span J Agric Res 8(4):1058–1067
Rodrigues MA, Lopes JI, Pavão F, Cabanas JE, Arrobas M (2011) Effect of soil management on olive yield and nutritional status of trees in rainfed orchards. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 42:993–2011
Rodrigues MA, Correia CM, Claro AM, Ferreira IQ, Barbosa JC, Moutinho-Pereira JM, Bacelar EA, Fernandes-Silva AA, Arrobas M (2013) Soil nitrogen availability in olive orchards after mulching legume cover crop residues. Sci Hort 156:45–51
Sackett TE, Classen AT, Sanders NJ (2010) Linking soil food web structure to above- and belowground ecosystem processes: a meta-analysis. Oikos 119:1984–1992
Schnier HF (1994) Nitrogen-15 recovery fraction in flooded tropical rice as affected by added nitrogen interaction. Eur J Agron 3(2):161–167
Snoeck D, Zapata F, Domenach A-M (2000) Isotopic evidence of the transfer of nitrogen fixed by legumes to coffee trees. Biotechnol Agron Soc Environ 4(2):95–100
Tabatabai MA, Bremner JM (1969) Use of p-nitrophenyl phosphate for assay of soil phosphatase activity. Soil Biol Biochem 1(4):301–307
Tomasi N, Weisskopf L, Renella G, Landi L, Pinton R, Varanini Z, Nannipieri P, Torrent J, Martinoia E, Cesco S (2008) Flavonoids of white lupin roots participate in phosphorus mobilization from soil. Soil Biol Biochem 40:1971–1974
Uhde-Stone C, Gilbert G, Johnson JM-F, Litjens R, Zinn KE, Temple SJ, Vance CP, Allan DL (2003) Acclimation of white lupin to phosphorus deficiency involves enhanced expression of genes related to organic acid metabolism. Plant Soil 248:99–116
Vance ED, Brookes PC, Jenkinson DS (1987) An extraction method for measuring soil microbial biomass C. Soil Biol Biochem 19:703–707
Varennes A, Torres MO, Cunha-Queda C, Goss MJ, Carranca C (2007) Nitrogen conservation in soil and crop residues as affected by crop rotation and soil disturbance under Mediterranean conditions. Biol Fertil Soils 44:49–58
Walinga I, van Vark W, Houba V, van der Lee J (1989) Soil and plant analysis: Part 7—plant analysis procedures. Wageningen Agricultural University, Wageningen
Wang X, Tang C, Guppy CN, Sale PWG (2010) Cotton, wheat and white lupin differ in phosphorus acquisition from sparingly soluble sources. Environ Exp Bot 69:267–272
Zhu Y, Yan F, Zörb C, Schubert S (2005) A link between citrate and proton release by proteoid roots of white lupin (Lupinus albus L.) grown under phosphorus-deficient conditions? Plant Cell Physiol 46(6):892–901
Zotarelli L, Zatorre P, Boddey M, Urquiaga S, Jantalia P, Franchin C, Alves R (2012) Influence of no-tillage and frequency of a green manure legume in crop rotations for balancing N outputs and preserving soil organic C stocks. Field Crop Res 132:185–195
Acknowledgments
Supported by PRODER under the project OlivaTMAD – Rede Temática de Informação e Divulgação da Fileira Olivícola em Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro - Medida 4.2.2.2. The authors also thank Rita Diz, Ana Veiga Pinto, David Cabral and José Rocha for laboratorial assistance.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rodrigues, M.Â., Dimande, P., Pereira, E.L. et al. Early-maturing annual legumes: an option for cover cropping in rainfed olive orchards. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 103, 153–166 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-015-9730-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-015-9730-5