Long-Term Effects of Cover Crops on Crop Yields, Soil Organic Carbon Stocks and Sequestration

Kenneth Olson, Stephen A. Ebelhar, James M. Lang

Department of Crop Sciences, Dixon Springs Agricultural Center, Simpson, Illinois, USA.
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, S-224 Turner Hall, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/ojss.2014.48030                

Abstract

A 12-year cover crops study on the effects on SOC sequestration, storage, retention and loss and corn and soybean yields was conducted in southern Illinois. The use of cover crops for the maintenance and restoration of soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil productivity of previously eroded soils were evaluated. No-till (NT), chisel plow (CP), and moldboard plow (MP) treatment plots with and without cover crops were established in 2001. The plot area was on sloping with a moderately well drained, eroded soil. The average annual corn and soybean yields were statistically the same for NT, CP, and MP systems with and without cover crops. By 2012, the cover crop treatments had more SOC stock than that without cover crops for the same soil layer and tillage treatment. The NT, CP, and MP treatments all sequestered SOC with cover crops. A pre-treatment SOC stock baseline for rooting zone was used to validate the finding that cover crops sequestered SOC in the topsoil, subsoil and root zone of the NT, CP and MP treatments during the 12-year study. Additional sequestered SOC was lost as a result of being transported off of the plots and retained in lower slopes, transported to the stream or released to atmosphere.

Keywords

Soil Organic Carbon, Soil Erosion, Soil Loss, Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Olson, K.R., Ebelhar, S.A. and Lang, J.M. (2010) Cover Crop Effects on Crop Yields and Organic Carbon Content. Soil Science, 175, 89-98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/SS.0b013e3181cf7959
[2]	Chappell, A., Baldock, J. and Viscarra Rossel, R. (2013) Sampling Soil Organic Carbon to Detect Change over Time. Report to Grains Research and Development Corp. and Australian Department of Environment, Australia, 1-36.
[3]	Reeves, D.W. (1994) Cover Crops and Rotations. In: Hatfield, J.L. and Stewart, B.A., Eds., Crops Residue Management. Advances in Soil Science, Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, 125-172.
[4]	Langdale, G.W., Blevins, R.L., Karlen, D., Thomas, D.K., Tyler, D.D. and Williams, J.R. (1991) Cover Crop Effects on Soil Erosion by Wind and Water. In: Hargrove, W.L., Ed., Cover Crops for Clean Water, SWCS, Ankeny, 15-21.
[5]	Dabney. S.M. (1998) Cover Crop Impacts on Watershed Hydrology. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 53, 207-213.
[6]	Lal, R. (1999) Soil Management and Restoration for C Sequestration to Mitigate the Accerated Greenhouse Effect. Progressive Environment Science, 1, 307-326.
[7]	Soil Survey Staff (1999) Soil Taxonomy, a Basic System of Soil Classification for Making and Interpreting Soil Survey. U.S. Department of Agr. Handbook 436. 2nd Edition, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 869 p.
[8]	Cochran, W.G. and Cox, G.M. (1957) Experimental Design. 2nd Edition, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 615 p.
[9]	Olson, K.R. (2013) Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration, Storage, Retention and Loss in U.S. Croplands: Issues Paper for Protocol Development. Geoderma, 195-196, 201-206. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2012.12.004
[10]	Olson, K.R., Al-Kaisi, M.M, Lal, R. and Lowery, B. (2014) Experimental Consideration, Treatments, and Methods in Determining Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration Rates. Soil Science Society America Journal, 78, 348-360. http://dx.doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2013.09.0412
[11]	Hill, P.R., Manning, J.V. and Wilcox, J.R. (1989) Estimating Corn and Soybean Residue Cover. Agronomy Guide. Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service, West Lafayette.
[12]	Widman, N. (2004) RUSLE2-Instructions and Users Guide. USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Washington, DC.
[13]	Walker, R.D. and Pope, R.A. (1983) Estimating Your Soil Erosion Losses with the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). University of Illinois, Extension Service Circular 1220, Urbana, 19 p.
[14]	Soil Survey Staff (1984) Procedure for Collecting Soil Samples and Methods of Analysis for Soil Survey. Soil Survey Investigations. Rep.1. U.S. Gov. Printing Office, Washington, DC.
[15]	Soil Survey Staff (2004) Soil Survey Laboratory Methods Manual Soil Survey Investigations Report 42, Version 4.0. National Sol Survey Center, Lincoln, Nebraska.
[16]	SAS Institute, Inc. (2001) SAS/STAT Guide for Personal Computers. Version 6 Ed., SAS Institute Inc., Cary, 495.
[17]	Lal, R., Kimble, J.M., Follett, R.F. and Cole, C.V. (1998) The Potential of U.S. Cropland to Sequesters Carbon and Mitigate the Greenhouse Effect. Sleeping Bear Press, Inc., Ann Arbor Press, Chelsea, 128 p.