Early effects of temperate agroforestry practices on soil organic matter and microbial enzyme activity
- PDF / 2,553,913 Bytes
- 19 Pages / 547.087 x 737.008 pts Page_size
- 68 Downloads / 217 Views
REGULAR ARTICLE
Early effects of temperate agroforestry practices on soil organic matter and microbial enzyme activity Hugues Clivot & Caroline Petitjean & Nicolas Marron & Erwin Dallé & Julie Genestier & Nicolas Blaszczyk & Philippe Santenoise & Alexandre Laflotte & Séverine Piutti
Received: 12 April 2019 / Accepted: 27 September 2019 # Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
Abstract Aims A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of alley cropping systems on microbial activity and soil organic matter (SOM) pools. We hypothesized that enzyme activity and labile pools of SOM are early and sensitive indicators of changes induced by tree introduction in the cropping systems. Hugues Clivot and Caroline Petitjean contributed equally to this work. Responsible Editor: Remi Cardinael. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-019-04320-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. H. Clivot (*) : C. Petitjean : J. Genestier : N. Blaszczyk : S. Piutti Université de Lorraine, INRA, UMR Laboratoire Agronomie et Environnement, 54518 Vandoeuvre, 68021 Colmar, France e-mail: [email protected]
S. Piutti e-mail: [email protected]
Methods Poplar-alfalfa and alder-gramineous (cereal or ryegrass) associations and their respective control systems (alfalfa and gramineous) were compared in terms of soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and water contents, SOM labile pools, NIRS-MIRS spectra and microbial enzyme activity in the topsoil (0–15 cm) for 4 years after tree planting. Results After 1 year, tree introduction induced a decrease in soil water content, microbial biomass N and some enzyme activities under alfalfa system. After 4 years, tree introduction resulted in higher soil water contents in both systems (alfalfa and gramineous); higher microbial biomass N and lower C:N in alfalfapoplar plots compared to control plots. MIRS-NIRS analyses showed a greatest differentiation in SOM quality between alfalfa-based systems. Conclusions The effects of temperate agroforestry systems on SOC in the topsoil are relatively weak in the first years after tree introduction. Observed effects were more pronounced in the alfalfa-poplar system, probably due to higher tree growth. Further studies will provide insights into the longer-term effects of these systems on soil functioning.
C. Petitjean : N. Marron : E. Dallé : P. Santenoise Université de Lorraine, AgroParisTech, INRA, UMR Silva, 54000 Nancy, France
Keywords Alley cropping . N2-fixing species . Microbial enzyme activities . Soil organic matter pools
P. Santenoise INRA, UR Biogéochimie des Ecosystèmes Forestiers, 54280 Champenoux, France
Introduction
A. Laflotte Université de Lorraine, Ferme expérimentale de La Bouzule, 54280 Champenoux, France
Agroforestry systems are innovative cropping practices that associate trees with annual and/or perennial herbaceous plants or livestock on the same field. The
Plant Soil
intentional integration of row trees in herbaceou
Data Loading...
