Open AccessConservation tillage increases carbon sequestration of winter wheat-summer maize farmland on Loess Plateau in China
Author(s) -
Xianguo Lü,
Xingneng Lu,
Yuncheng Liao
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0199846
Subject(s) - tillage , environmental science , carbon sequestration , agronomy , plough , soil carbon , conventional tillage , no till farming , straw , carbon sink , ecosystem , soil water , soil science , carbon dioxide , biology , ecology , soil fertility
The idea of mitigating anthropogenic CO 2 emissions by increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) is notable. However, the estimation of the net ecosystem carbon balance after conversion from conventional tillage to conservational tillage has been poorly quantified for the Loess Plateau in China. A 2-year field experiment was conducted to estimate the agroecosystem carbon balance of a winter wheat–summer maize rotation system using a full carbon cycle analysis. The results showed that a positive net ecosystem carbon balance value in the cases of rotary tillage with straw incorporation, chisel plow tillage with straw incorporation, and no tillage with straw mulching treatments. Note that a negative value was detected for the conventional moldboard plowing tillage without crop straw treatment. The conversion from conventional tillage to conservational tillage substantially enhanced the carbon sink potential from 0.84 t C ha −1 yr −1 to 2.69 t C ha −1 yr −1 in both years. Our findings suggest that the expansion of conservational tillage could enhance the potential carbon sink of the rain-fed land in China.