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Effects of Land Management on Different Forms of Soil Carbon in Olive Groves in Mediterranean Areas
Author(s) -
FernándezRomero María Luisa,
LozanoGarcía Beatriz,
ParrasAlcántara Luis,
Collins Chris D.,
Clark Joanna M.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
land degradation and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.403
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1099-145X
pISSN - 1085-3278
DOI - 10.1002/ldr.2327
Subject(s) - tillage , soil carbon , conventional tillage , mediterranean climate , environmental science , soil water , olive oil , total organic carbon , carbon fibers , soil horizon , chemistry , zoology , agronomy , mathematics , horticulture , soil science , biology , environmental chemistry , ecology , algorithm , food science , composite number
This study analyses soil organic carbon (SOC) and hot‐water extractable carbon, both measures of soil quality, under different land management—(i) conventional tillage (CT); (ii) CT plus the addition of oil mill waste alperujo (A); (iii) CT plus the addition of oil mill waste olive leaves (L); (iv) no tillage with chipped pruned branches (NT 1 ); and (v) no tillage with chipped pruned branches and weeds (NT 2 )—in a typical Mediterranean agricultural area: the olive groves of Andalusia, southern Spain. SOC values in CT, A, NT 1 and NT 2 decreased with depth, but in NT 2 , the surface horizon (0–5 cm) had higher values than the other treatments, 47% more than the average values in the other three soils. In L, SOC also decreased with depth, although there was an increase of 88·5% from the first (0–10 cm) to the second horizon (10–16 cm). Total SOC stock values were very similar under A (101·9 Mg ha −1 ), CT (101·7 Mg ha −1 ), NT 1 (105·8 Mg ha −1 ) and NT 2 (111·3 Mg ha −1 , if we consider the same depth of the others). However, SOC under L was significantly higher ( p < 0 · 05 ) at 250·2 Mg ha −1 . Hot‐water extractable carbon decreased with depth in A, CT and NT 1 . NT 2 and L followed the same pattern as the other management types but with a higher value in the surface horizon (2·3 and 4·9 mg g −1 , respectively). Overall, our results indicate that application of oil mill waste olive leaves under CT (L) is a good management practice to improve SOC and reduce waste. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.