Cargando…

The Effects of Conservation Tillage on Chemical and Microbial Soil Parameters at Four Sites across Europe

Conservation tillage is often discussed as an effective tool to improve the soil quality in agriculture. Four sites across Europe (in Germany, Romania, Spain, and Sweden) were investigated as case studies for country-specific reductions in tillage intensity. Conventional tillage (CT) by mouldboard p...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Engell, Ilka, Linsler, Deborah, Sandor, Mignon, Joergensen, Rainer Georg, Meinen, Catharina, Potthoff, Martin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9268763/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35807698
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/plants11131747
_version_ 1784744065120600064
author Engell, Ilka
Linsler, Deborah
Sandor, Mignon
Joergensen, Rainer Georg
Meinen, Catharina
Potthoff, Martin
author_facet Engell, Ilka
Linsler, Deborah
Sandor, Mignon
Joergensen, Rainer Georg
Meinen, Catharina
Potthoff, Martin
author_sort Engell, Ilka
collection PubMed
description Conservation tillage is often discussed as an effective tool to improve the soil quality in agriculture. Four sites across Europe (in Germany, Romania, Spain, and Sweden) were investigated as case studies for country-specific reductions in tillage intensity. Conventional tillage (CT) by mouldboard ploughing was compared with shallow and deep non-inversion minimum tillage (MT) and/or no-tillage (NT). In Sweden, NT and MT had positive effects on the concentrations of soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (N), and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) in the upper 20 cm compared with CT. At the German site, MT increased SOC, N, and MBC concentrations in the top 10 cm. In contrast, CT increased MBC contents and bulk density between 20 and 30 cm soil depth. At the Romanian site, soil parameters showed no differences between inverse tillage (CT) and non-inverse tillage (MT), both with a working depth of 25 to 30 cm. At the Spanish site, the use of NT significantly increased the concentrations as well as the stocks of C, N, and MBC compared to CT. In conclusion, reduced tillage improved soil microbial properties in most cases. However, the effectiveness of reduced tillage appears to be highly dependent on site conditions such as pH, soil texture, and climatic conditions.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9268763
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-92687632022-07-09 The Effects of Conservation Tillage on Chemical and Microbial Soil Parameters at Four Sites across Europe Engell, Ilka Linsler, Deborah Sandor, Mignon Joergensen, Rainer Georg Meinen, Catharina Potthoff, Martin Plants (Basel) Article Conservation tillage is often discussed as an effective tool to improve the soil quality in agriculture. Four sites across Europe (in Germany, Romania, Spain, and Sweden) were investigated as case studies for country-specific reductions in tillage intensity. Conventional tillage (CT) by mouldboard ploughing was compared with shallow and deep non-inversion minimum tillage (MT) and/or no-tillage (NT). In Sweden, NT and MT had positive effects on the concentrations of soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (N), and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) in the upper 20 cm compared with CT. At the German site, MT increased SOC, N, and MBC concentrations in the top 10 cm. In contrast, CT increased MBC contents and bulk density between 20 and 30 cm soil depth. At the Romanian site, soil parameters showed no differences between inverse tillage (CT) and non-inverse tillage (MT), both with a working depth of 25 to 30 cm. At the Spanish site, the use of NT significantly increased the concentrations as well as the stocks of C, N, and MBC compared to CT. In conclusion, reduced tillage improved soil microbial properties in most cases. However, the effectiveness of reduced tillage appears to be highly dependent on site conditions such as pH, soil texture, and climatic conditions. MDPI 2022-06-30 /pmc/articles/PMC9268763/ /pubmed/35807698 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/plants11131747 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Engell, Ilka
Linsler, Deborah
Sandor, Mignon
Joergensen, Rainer Georg
Meinen, Catharina
Potthoff, Martin
The Effects of Conservation Tillage on Chemical and Microbial Soil Parameters at Four Sites across Europe
title The Effects of Conservation Tillage on Chemical and Microbial Soil Parameters at Four Sites across Europe
title_full The Effects of Conservation Tillage on Chemical and Microbial Soil Parameters at Four Sites across Europe
title_fullStr The Effects of Conservation Tillage on Chemical and Microbial Soil Parameters at Four Sites across Europe
title_full_unstemmed The Effects of Conservation Tillage on Chemical and Microbial Soil Parameters at Four Sites across Europe
title_short The Effects of Conservation Tillage on Chemical and Microbial Soil Parameters at Four Sites across Europe
title_sort effects of conservation tillage on chemical and microbial soil parameters at four sites across europe
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9268763/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35807698
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/plants11131747
work_keys_str_mv AT engellilka theeffectsofconservationtillageonchemicalandmicrobialsoilparametersatfoursitesacrosseurope
AT linslerdeborah theeffectsofconservationtillageonchemicalandmicrobialsoilparametersatfoursitesacrosseurope
AT sandormignon theeffectsofconservationtillageonchemicalandmicrobialsoilparametersatfoursitesacrosseurope
AT joergensenrainergeorg theeffectsofconservationtillageonchemicalandmicrobialsoilparametersatfoursitesacrosseurope
AT meinencatharina theeffectsofconservationtillageonchemicalandmicrobialsoilparametersatfoursitesacrosseurope
AT potthoffmartin theeffectsofconservationtillageonchemicalandmicrobialsoilparametersatfoursitesacrosseurope
AT engellilka effectsofconservationtillageonchemicalandmicrobialsoilparametersatfoursitesacrosseurope
AT linslerdeborah effectsofconservationtillageonchemicalandmicrobialsoilparametersatfoursitesacrosseurope
AT sandormignon effectsofconservationtillageonchemicalandmicrobialsoilparametersatfoursitesacrosseurope
AT joergensenrainergeorg effectsofconservationtillageonchemicalandmicrobialsoilparametersatfoursitesacrosseurope
AT meinencatharina effectsofconservationtillageonchemicalandmicrobialsoilparametersatfoursitesacrosseurope
AT potthoffmartin effectsofconservationtillageonchemicalandmicrobialsoilparametersatfoursitesacrosseurope