IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jagris/v10y2020i6p243-d375162.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Living Mulch Management Spatially Localizes Nutrient Cycling in Organic Corn Production

Author

Listed:
  • Peyton Ginakes

    (School of Food and Agriculture, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04473, USA)

  • Julie M. Grossman

    (Department of Horticultural Science, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA)

  • John M. Baker

    (Soil and Water Management Research Unit, USDA-ARS, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA
    Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA)

  • Thanwalee Sooksa-nguan

    (Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA)

Abstract

Kura clover ( Trifolium ambiguum ) is a perennial living mulch species that can be used in conjunction with zone tillage to reduce nitrogen pollution, maintain ground cover, and provide nitrogen to crops. In such systems, kura clover is maintained between crop rows by limiting tillage only to within-row areas. However, the effect of zone-tilled living mulches on soil quality and nutrient cycling in these distinct regions is relatively unexplored. We examined three pools of labile soil organic matter (SOM): microbial biomass, particulate organic matter (POM), and permanganate oxidizable carbon (POXC). Soil samples were collected from both within-row and between-row locations of a zone-tilled kura clover living mulch at three time points per year: before spring zone tillage, approximately ten days after spring zone tillage and corn ( Zea mays ) planting, and at corn harvest in 2015 and 2016. In 2016, POM and POXC decreased within rows relative to between-row regions after tillage, suggesting that zone till management stimulated decomposition of readily available SOM to effectively localize nutrient cycling in this region and slow mineralization between rows where living kura clover remained. This work shows that zone-tilled living mulches may be a promising avenue for enhancing the synchrony of nutrient mineralization specifically within crop rows, while maintaining year-round ground cover between rows.

Suggested Citation

  • Peyton Ginakes & Julie M. Grossman & John M. Baker & Thanwalee Sooksa-nguan, 2020. "Living Mulch Management Spatially Localizes Nutrient Cycling in Organic Corn Production," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-10, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:10:y:2020:i:6:p:243-:d:375162
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/10/6/243/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/10/6/243/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Qi, Zhiming & Helmers, Matthew J. & Kaleita, Amy L., 2011. "Soil water dynamics under various agricultural land covers on a subsurface drained field in north-central Iowa, USA," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(4), pages 665-674, February.
    2. Michael W. I. Schmidt & Margaret S. Torn & Samuel Abiven & Thorsten Dittmar & Georg Guggenberger & Ivan A. Janssens & Markus Kleber & Ingrid Kögel-Knabner & Johannes Lehmann & David A. C. Manning & Pa, 2011. "Persistence of soil organic matter as an ecosystem property," Nature, Nature, vol. 478(7367), pages 49-56, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Akinpelu, O.A. & Olaleye, O. & Fagbola, O., 2023. "The Soil Organic Matter Decomposers: A Bibliometric Analysis," International Journal of Agriculture and Environmental Research, Malwa International Journals Publication, vol. 9(4), August.
    2. Kristof Dorau & Chris Bamminger & Daniel Koch & Tim Mansfeldt, 2022. "Evidences of soil warming from long-term trends (1951–2018) in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 170(1), pages 1-13, January.
    3. Guoai Li & Xuxu Chai & Zheng Shi & Honghua Ruan, 2023. "Interactive Effects Determine Radiocarbon Abundance in Soil Fractions of Global Biomes," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-17, May.
    4. Isabel Teichmann, 2015. "An Economic Assessment of Soil Carbon Sequestration with Biochar in Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1476, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    5. Shaw, C.H. & Hilger, A.B. & Metsaranta, J. & Kurz, W.A. & Russo, G. & Eichel, F. & Stinson, G. & Smyth, C. & Filiatrault, M., 2014. "Evaluation of simulated estimates of forest ecosystem carbon stocks using ground plot data from Canada's National Forest Inventory," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 272(C), pages 323-347.
    6. Miriam Githongo & Lucy Ngatia & Milka Kiboi & Anne Muriuki & Andreas Fliessbach & Collins Musafiri & Riqiang Fu & Felix Ngetich, 2023. "The Structural Quality of Soil Organic Matter under Selected Soil Fertility Management Practices in the Central Highlands of Kenya," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-13, April.
    7. Miquelajauregui, Yosune & Cumming, Steven G. & Gauthier, Sylvie, 2019. "Short-term responses of boreal carbon stocks to climate change: A simulation study of black spruce forests," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 409(C), pages 1-1.
    8. Rafaella Campos & Gabrielle Ferreira Pires & Marcos Heil Costa, 2020. "Soil Carbon Sequestration in Rainfed and Irrigated Production Systems in a New Brazilian Agricultural Frontier," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-14, May.
    9. Damien Finn & Kerrilyn Catton & Marijke Heenan & Peter M. Kopittke & Diane Ouwerkerk & Athol V. Klieve & Ram C. Dalal, 2018. "Differential Gene Expression in the Model Actinomycete Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) Supports Nitrogen Mining Dependent on the Plant Carbon to Nitrogen Ratio," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-10, December.
    10. Stavros D Veresoglou & Barry Thornton & George Menexes & Andreas P Mamolos & Demetrios S Veresoglou, 2012. "Soil Fertilization Leads to a Decline in Between-Samples Variability of Microbial Community δ13C Profiles in a Grassland Fertilization Experiment," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(9), pages 1-8, September.
    11. Ping, Jiaye & Zhou, Jian & Huang, Kun & Sun, Xiaoying & Sun, Huanfa & Xia, Jianyang, 2021. "Modeling the typhoon disturbance effect on ecosystem carbon storage dynamics in a subtropical forest of China's coastal region," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 455(C).
    12. Timothy E. Crews & Brian E. Rumsey, 2017. "What Agriculture Can Learn from Native Ecosystems in Building Soil Organic Matter: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-18, April.
    13. Jean-Sébastien Landry & Navin Ramankutty, 2015. "Carbon Cycling, Climate Regulation, and Disturbances in Canadian Forests: Scientific Principles for Management," Land, MDPI, vol. 4(1), pages 1-36, January.
    14. Tipping, E. & Rowe, E.C. & Evans, C.D. & Mills, R.T.E. & Emmett, B.A. & Chaplow, J.S. & Hall, J.R., 2012. "N14C: A plant–soil nitrogen and carbon cycling model to simulate terrestrial ecosystem responses to atmospheric nitrogen deposition," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 247(C), pages 11-26.
    15. Dongwei Liu & Shanlong Li & Weixing Zhu & Yongyang Wang & Shasha Zhang & Yunting Fang, 2023. "Storage and Stability of Soil Organic Carbon in Two Temperate Forests in Northeastern China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-14, May.
    16. Li, Yizhuo & Tian, Di & Feng, Gary & Yang, Wei & Feng, Liping, 2021. "Climate change and cover crop effects on water use efficiency of a corn-soybean rotation system," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    17. Goncharov, Anton A. & Gorbatova, Anna S. & Sidorova, Alena A. & Tiunov, Alexei V. & Bocharov, Gennady A., 2022. "Mathematical modelling of the interaction of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) and Fusarium species (Fusarium spp.)," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 465(C).
    18. Chin-Chiang Hsu & Heng Tsai & Wen-Shu Huang & Shiuh-Tsuen Huang, 2021. "Carbon Storage along with Soil Profile: An Example of Soil Chronosequence from the Fluvial Terraces on the Pakua Tableland, Taiwan," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-14, April.
    19. Prabhat Poudel & Jørgen Ødegaard & Siri Josefine Mo & Rebekka Kaald Andresen & Hans Andre Tandberg & Thomas Cottis & Harald Solberg & Kari Bysveen & Puspa Raj Dulal & Hesam Mousavi & Svein Øivind Solb, 2022. "Italian Ryegrass, Perennial Ryegrass, and Meadow Fescue as Undersown Cover Crops in Spring Wheat and Barley: Results from a Mixed Methods Study in Norway," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-17, October.
    20. Rizki Maftukhah & Katharina M. Keiblinger & Ngadisih Ngadisih & Murtiningrum Murtiningrum & Rosana M. Kral & Axel Mentler & Rebecca Hood-Nowotny, 2023. "Post-Tin-Mining Agricultural Soil Regeneration Using Local Organic Amendments Improve Nitrogen Fixation and Uptake in a Legume–Cassava Intercropping System," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-17, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:10:y:2020:i:6:p:243-:d:375162. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.