Effects of conservation tillage on total and aggregated soil organic carbon in the Andes

Many Andisols of the Andes have been disturbed by traditional potato-based rotation agriculture disrupting soil structure, water retention capacity and organic matter content.This study was undertaken to investigate the contribution of conservation farming technology or reduced tillage in potato-bas...

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Autores principales: Quintero, Marcela, Comerford, N.B.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Scientific Research Publishing, Inc. 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/51505
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author Quintero, Marcela
Comerford, N.B.
author_browse Comerford, N.B.
Quintero, Marcela
author_facet Quintero, Marcela
Comerford, N.B.
author_sort Quintero, Marcela
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Many Andisols of the Andes have been disturbed by traditional potato-based rotation agriculture disrupting soil structure, water retention capacity and organic matter content.This study was undertaken to investigate the contribution of conservation farming technology or reduced tillage in potato-based rotations in the Colombian Andes in order to rehabilitate total and aggregated soil organic C in disturbed organic matter-rich Andisols.Soils were sampled from farms with 7-year of reduced tillage and farms with conventional farming practices.Ultrasound energy was applied to samples to disrupt aggregation and total soil C was determined in order to investigate the amount of carbon held inside the aggregates of different soil size classes.Results indicated that reduced tillage in potato-based crop rotations increased the soil C concentration and average C content in the whole profile (≈117 cm depth) by 50 and 33% (1636 t C ha -1 vs. 1224 t C ha -1 ), respectively, as compared to conventional farming practices.Carbon content increased 177% in the subsoil (A2 horizon, 78 -117 cm depth, from 215 to 596 t•ha -1 ), although most of the soil C was in the A1 horizon (between 0 -78 cm average thickness, 1097 t•ha -1 ).These increases show that reduced tillage enhances C stores in Andisols which are already high in organic matter.In addition, C in aggregates represented more than 80% of the total organic matter and it was positively affected by conservation practices.The C increase was preferential in the smaller macroaggregates (<2 mm).The aggregate dispersion energy curves further suggested that C increase was occurring in microaggregates within the smaller macroaggregate fraction.Data suggested that smaller macroaggregates can be used in these soils to evaluate the influence of field management practices on soil C sequestration.
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spelling CGSpace515052024-10-03T07:40:54Z Effects of conservation tillage on total and aggregated soil organic carbon in the Andes Quintero, Marcela Comerford, N.B. soil conservation tillage potatoes organic matter carbon carbon sequestration soil structural units labranza papa carbono secuestro de carbono unidades estructurales de suelos Many Andisols of the Andes have been disturbed by traditional potato-based rotation agriculture disrupting soil structure, water retention capacity and organic matter content.This study was undertaken to investigate the contribution of conservation farming technology or reduced tillage in potato-based rotations in the Colombian Andes in order to rehabilitate total and aggregated soil organic C in disturbed organic matter-rich Andisols.Soils were sampled from farms with 7-year of reduced tillage and farms with conventional farming practices.Ultrasound energy was applied to samples to disrupt aggregation and total soil C was determined in order to investigate the amount of carbon held inside the aggregates of different soil size classes.Results indicated that reduced tillage in potato-based crop rotations increased the soil C concentration and average C content in the whole profile (≈117 cm depth) by 50 and 33% (1636 t C ha -1 vs. 1224 t C ha -1 ), respectively, as compared to conventional farming practices.Carbon content increased 177% in the subsoil (A2 horizon, 78 -117 cm depth, from 215 to 596 t•ha -1 ), although most of the soil C was in the A1 horizon (between 0 -78 cm average thickness, 1097 t•ha -1 ).These increases show that reduced tillage enhances C stores in Andisols which are already high in organic matter.In addition, C in aggregates represented more than 80% of the total organic matter and it was positively affected by conservation practices.The C increase was preferential in the smaller macroaggregates (<2 mm).The aggregate dispersion energy curves further suggested that C increase was occurring in microaggregates within the smaller macroaggregate fraction.Data suggested that smaller macroaggregates can be used in these soils to evaluate the influence of field management practices on soil C sequestration. 2013 2014-11-12T13:42:25Z 2014-11-12T13:42:25Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/51505 en Open Access Scientific Research Publishing, Inc. Quintero, Marcela; Comerford, Nicholas B. 2013. Effects of conservation tillage on total and aggregated soil organic carbon in the Andes. Open Journal of Soil Science. .
spellingShingle soil conservation
tillage
potatoes
organic matter
carbon
carbon sequestration
soil structural units
labranza
papa
carbono
secuestro de carbono
unidades estructurales de suelos
Quintero, Marcela
Comerford, N.B.
Effects of conservation tillage on total and aggregated soil organic carbon in the Andes
title Effects of conservation tillage on total and aggregated soil organic carbon in the Andes
title_full Effects of conservation tillage on total and aggregated soil organic carbon in the Andes
title_fullStr Effects of conservation tillage on total and aggregated soil organic carbon in the Andes
title_full_unstemmed Effects of conservation tillage on total and aggregated soil organic carbon in the Andes
title_short Effects of conservation tillage on total and aggregated soil organic carbon in the Andes
title_sort effects of conservation tillage on total and aggregated soil organic carbon in the andes
topic soil conservation
tillage
potatoes
organic matter
carbon
carbon sequestration
soil structural units
labranza
papa
carbono
secuestro de carbono
unidades estructurales de suelos
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/51505
work_keys_str_mv AT quinteromarcela effectsofconservationtillageontotalandaggregatedsoilorganiccarbonintheandes
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