Effects of corn stover mulch quantity on mid-infrared spectroscopy of soil organic carbon in a no-tillage agricultural ecosystem

doi:10.13287/j.1001-9332.202108.022

Abstract

Abstract: We examined carbon chemical composition and stability along soil depth (topsoil 0-5 cm, mid-soil 20-40 cm, and deep soil 60-100 cm) in a no-tillage (NT) agricultural system with various amount of corn stover as mulch for 8 years, including 0 (NT₀), 33% (NT₃₃), 67% (NT₆₇) and 100% (NT₁₀₀), in Northeast China, using mid-infrared spectroscopy. The results showed that, relative to NT₀, the treatments of NT₃₃ and NT₁₀₀ increased polysaccharide content of the top layer and mid-layer soils, the former decreased topsoil carbon component diversity, while the latter maintained soil carbon stability of three soil layers. NT₆₇ increased carbon stability at the deep layer soil. Our results demonstrated that if corn stover resources were sufficient, NT with 100% corn stover mulch could both be beneficial to carbon availability at 0-40 cm soil layer and stability of the whole soil profile. The nonlinear relationship between the amount of corn stover mulch and the mid-infrared spectral characteristics of the soil called for further research on the microbial-control mechanism over soil carbon cycling under different amounts of corn stover mulch.

Key words: soil carbon chemical composition, mid-infrared spectroscopy, soil carbon stability, conservational tillage, deep soil carbon

ZHU Xue-feng, ZHANG Chun-yu, HAO Yan-jie, BAO Xue-lian, HUO Hai-nan, HE Hong-bo, LIANG Chao, XIE Hong-tu. Effects of corn stover mulch quantity on mid-infrared spectroscopy of soil organic carbon in a no-tillage agricultural ecosystem[J]. Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology, 2021, 32(8): 2685-2692.

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