Microbial biomass, microbial diversity, soil carbon storage, and stability after incubation of soil from grass-clover pastures of different age
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
A laboratory incubation study with clover grass pasture soils of seven different ages (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 16 production years) was carried out to determine initial soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stocks and potentials for greenhouse gas emissions (N 2O and CO 2). Compared with the soil from the recently established pasture, an increase of total soil C and N was observed along with pasture age. Greenhouse gas emissions were low and not significantly different among the soils from younger pastures (0-5 years), but especially N 2O emissions increased markedly in the soil from 16-year-old grass-clover. Low emissions might mainly be due to an early C limitation occurring in the soils from younger pastures, which was also corroborated by decreasing levels of cold water-extractable C and early shifts within the microbial community. However, higher emissions from the old pasture soil were offset by its increase in total soil C. A longer ley phase without soil disturbance may therefore be beneficial in terms of overall C sequestration in systems with temporary grass-clover swards.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Biology and Fertility of Soils |
Volume | 48 |
Issue number | 4 |
Pages (from-to) | 371-383 |
Number of pages | 13 |
ISSN | 0178-2762 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - May 2012 |
Externally published | Yes |
- Carbon dioxide, Grass-clover, Nitrous oxide, Pasture age, Soil carbon sequestration
Research areas
ID: 162182335