Land management effects on wet aggregate stability and carbon content

Mikha, Maysoon M.; Jin, Virginia L.; Johnson, Jane M. F.; Lehman, R. Michael; Karlen, Douglas L.; Jabro, Jalal D.

doi:10.1002/saj2.20333

Title: Land management effects on wet aggregate stability and carbon content

Journal Article · 02 September 2021 · Soil Science Society of America Journal

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/saj2.20333 · OSTI ID:1836097

^[1]; Jin, Virginia L. ^[2]; Johnson, Jane M. F. ^[3]; Lehman, R. Michael ^[4]; Karlen, Douglas L. ^[5]; Jabro, Jalal D. ^[6]

USDA-ARS, Akron, CO (United States); Antares Group Inc.
USDA-ARS, Lincoln, NE (United States)
USDA-ARS, Morris, MN (United States)
North Central Agricultural Research Lab., Brookings, SD (United States)
USDA-ARS, Ames, IA (United States)
USDA‐ARS, Sidney, MT (United States)

Land management affects soil structure and many other soil properties and processes. Our objectives were to evaluate soil organic C (SOC), aggregate size distribution, aggregate-associated C, and soil structure as affected by long-term land management and slope. A chronosequence of 38 on-farm sites with low to high (5–18%) slopes was selected to evaluate 5–40 yr of management. The sites were classified as business as usual (BAU) cropland (BAU-Crop), BAU pasture (BAU-Past), newly established conservation reserve program (CRP) areas (CRP-New), and established CRP (CRP-Old). Soil samples were collected from the 0-to-5- and 5-to-15-cm depth increments and processed for soil property measurements including fractionation by wet sieving into five aggregate size classes (>2,000, 1,000–2,000, 500–1,000, 250–500, and 53–250 μm). Within the surface 5 cm, mean weight diameter (MWD) and geometric mean diameter (GMD) were used to characterize soil structural stability. The BAU-Past and CRP-Old sites had 79% more macroaggregates (>2,000, 1,000–2,000, and 500–1,000 μm), 123% higher MWD, 38% higher GMD, and 47% higher SOC than BAU-Crop or CRP-New sites. The 5-to-15-cm depth increment showed a similar but lower magnitude response. Aggregate-associated C was quantified using a constant soil mass that reflected aggregate size distribution to prevent overestimating C content. Lower-slope locations had more SOC, more macroaggregates, more C associated with macroaggregates, and higher GMD and MWD compared with high-slope locations across all management classifications and soil depths. The results support our hypothesis that the high-slop soils may benefits from specific management decisions than the lower-sloping soils as a function of landscape property. We recommend reestablishing grassland on sloping land that is susceptible to excessive soil erosion, although those practices will likely take a long time to restore soil structural stability and SOC content to precultivation levels.

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Research Organization:: USDA-ARS, Ames, IA (United States); USDA-ARS, Lincoln, NE (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Bioenergy Technologies Office

Grant/Contract Number:: EE0007088

OSTI ID:: 1836097

Report Number(s):: DOE-ANTARES-07088-27

Journal Information:: Soil Science Society of America Journal, Journal Name: Soil Science Society of America Journal Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 85; ISSN 0361-5995

Publisher:: Alliance of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Science SocietiesCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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